How does a lemon differ from lime

How does a lemon differ from lime

Lime and lemon are very close relatives. Both of them contain a high concentration of ascorbic acid (vitamin C), as well as pectin and many beneficial trace elements. Due to the high content of essential oils, both fruits are endowed with an unparalleled fresh aroma and have excellent antimicrobial properties. But on this their similarity, in fact, ends. But there are many differences.

Firstly, these fruits are significantly different in their external features. Ripe lemons always have only yellow color, while their fellow limes can be both yellowish and green. Lemon pulp is also yellow, but in lime it always has a bright green color. The rind of lemons is thick or medium thick, and the lime is very thin. Even the size of a lemon almost always exceeds a smaller lime.

Secondly, citruses differ in their organoleptic properties. Despite the fact that both of them, due to vitamin C, have a very sour taste, its shades are quite different. The taste of lime juice is much sharper and has a slight bitterness. Eat it only in the composition of dishes or drinks. In its pure form, lime is practically inedible. Fresh lemons, on the contrary, many people like to eat, just sprinkled with sugar, and some individuals - even without additional sweetening. Third, they grow in different climatic conditions. If a lemon is a tree about 7 meters high, it feels great in the subtropics, then lime is most often a shrub the height of a person that can only be grown in a hot and humid tropical climate. But lime fruits almost year-round, and the fruit of the lemon tree can be collected only once a year.

Fourthly, they are used quite differently in cooking. It is customary to serve lemon with tea and coffee, add to confectionery and dishes of Caucasian and Mediterranean cuisine, filling salads with juice with it, pouring meat from river and sea inhabitants and serving it with slices of fatty hot dishes.

The taste of lime, on the contrary, gives a characteristic feature to many traditional dishes of Southeast Asia and Latin America, such as Mexican guacamole sauce or the famous Thai soup tom-yum. It is indispensable in many alcoholic cocktails, mainly in the "Mojito" and "Margarita".

The differences are even present in the technology of adding these citruses to the dishes. If lemon juice is almost always added at the end of cooking, without subjecting it to heat treatment, lime derivatives are introduced into the dish at any moment of cooking, both at the end and at the very beginning. If for some reason you have to replace the lemon with a lime or vice versa, then you need to be prepared for the fact that the taste of the dish will change quite a lot. And it should be remembered that when replacing lemon juice, it will take about one third more than lime juice.

Fifth,, the shelf life of these fruits is significantly different. If the lime retains its freshness even when stored in the refrigerator at the optimum temperature of + 4 ° C for a maximum of a couple of weeks, then the lemon feels great, maintaining the taste and aroma, even after a couple of months.

Sixthly, despite the similar composition of two citruses, it cannot be said that their benefits to our body are absolutely the same. For example, lime contains almost five times more vitamin C. He also is a source of folic acid, which is absent in the lemon. Thanks to vitamin M, which has a positive effect on the formation of various body systems, lime is very useful for pregnant women.

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