Australian finger lime growers Margie and Ian Douglas's innovative idea of seedless frozen finger lime pearls has become a reality after seven years in the making, saving consumers and restaurant chefs time and labour.

The new frozen seedless finger limes will save chefs labour and time. ( Supplied: Luke Parminter )

Mr Douglas, who runs the Lime Caviar Company at Rathdowney in south-east Queensland, said there had been lots of trials and failures during the innovation process, but the machine-developed product was ingenious and could be further developed.

"It allows us to take the finger lime pearls out of their skin, remove the seeds and then by special process they are flash frozen," he said.

"One of the unique things about it is that the pearls are loose when they are frozen and they don't stick together, so you can spoon them out of the small containers while they are frozen, and when they thaw out their taste is just like fresh."

Mr Douglas said with a shelf life of 12 months, the new seedless frozen finger lime pearls overcame the difficulty of fresh finger limes that only lasted for two to three weeks.

The Lime Caviar Company grows six different varieties of fresh finger limes. ( ABC Rural: Jessica Schremmer )

Chefs eager to see citrus pearls hit the market

Noosaville's Thomas Corner Eatery head chef and owner David Rayner is excited to have a new ingredient native to Australia available and cannot wait to see it transform the international culinary world.

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He said it was a great advantage having the pearls already taken out, and their versatility was incredible.

"They are very intense. They have got a really good crunch to them because of the way they have been handled and flash frozen," he said.

"They are still really crispy and fresh. You wouldn't actually know that they had been frozen.

"I can see them being used all over the world. It just gives them new texture and application, and that's brilliant."

Brisbane's Wild Canary executive chef Glen Barratt said he loved the idea of spherification, and the new seedless frozen finger lime pearls were spherification on a natural level.

Executive chef Glen Barratt says the flavour of the frozen seedless finger lime pearls is unique. ( ABC Rural: Jessica Schremmer )

"To be able to open one of the containers and to be able to scoop it out and have these free-flowing balls that essentially have a nice crunch to them if you bite into them, but then the flavour that follows is really unique, I can't see that it is not just going to go ballistic," he said.

"I like them because they are native to Australia. It is nice to use something that is from the country.

"It's like macadamia nuts — I can see that happen with the finger limes too, that they become globally accepted and wanted, and people can see the potential in all the different possibilities to use them."

Mr Barratt said it was great having influential people in the global food industry such as Nigella Lawson come to Australia and get excited about the native citrus fruit.

The British gourmet posted on Twitter in February after her visit to Australia: "OK, I'm back from Down Under. And I have to report that finger limes are the future. The caviar of the citrus world."

Margie Douglas breaks open a fresh finger lime to reveal the green lime 'caviar' pearls. ( ABC Rural: Jessica Schremmer )

International demand is growing

Scientifically known as Citrus Australasia, finger limes have been used by Indigenous Australians for thousands of years for medicinal purposes and as a valuable source of food.

Finger limes grow naturally on Australia's east coast and are native to the rainforests of the border ranges of south-east Queensland and northern New South Wales.

Mr Douglas said more than 80 varieties were found in the rainforests and about 15-20 of those varieties were grown commercially.

Growers Margie and Ian Douglas will plant a further 1,200 trees to meet demand. ( ABC Rural: Jessica Schremmer )

"We have six varieties growing here on our orchard and demand is constantly increasing," he said.

"I think the demand overseas this year has probably doubled to what it was last year and I expect it to keep on growing for the next number of years."

Mr and Ms Douglas plan to expand their orchard to meet increasing demand and will plant a further 1,200 trees to add to their 4,000 trees already in the ground.

