What Is in Bottled Lime Juice?

Lime juice is made from the concentrated juice of a lime.

Bottled lime juice is the juice of a lime in a bottle. It can be used as a substitute for fresh lime juice and is most often found in Mexican, Southwestern, Vietnamese and Thai cooking.

Types of Limes

Limes are small green citrus fruits. They are sweeter and less tart than a lemon.

Persian limes, a larger, greener fruit, are used in most lime juice bottles, to garnish margaritas and for flavoring Coronas. Key limes are smaller, more yellow and more strongly flavored. Key limes are most often used for key lime pie. Key lime juice is more difficult to find.

Features

Bottled lime juice is made from lime concentrate. To prevent browning, water and preservatives--most often sodium bisulfite and sodium benzoate--are added to the concentrate. A lime oil is often added for fragrance. Sweetened lime juices, which are usually used in drinks, contain some type of sweetener, most often corn syrup. Since these are sold in clear bottles, they also contain food dye for color consistency.

How Its Made

Lime juice concentrate is made by extracting juice from the lime, then straining out the pulp and seeds. Lime oil is made from distilling the material discarded from the juice for aroma and flavor.

Using Lime Juice

When using bottled lime juice, use 1 to 2 tbs. if the recipe calls for the juice of one lime. If using key lime juice, remember that it is more tart than other lime juices, so reduce the amount. Citrus juice flavor deteriorates rapidly, so once the bottle is open use it as quickly as possible.

Fun Fact

Limes were a staple on British sailing ships in the 19th century as a cure for scurvy. A sweetened juice made the vitamin C-heavy fruit easier to take and when the sailors arrived on shore, they brought their sweetened lime juice and used it to mask the taste of questionable alcohol. It is still used in mixed drinks today, but shouldn't be considered a substitute for recipes requiring juiced limes.

References

• Dr.Pepper Snapple Group: Bottled Lime Juice
• Dr. Pepper Snapple Group: Sweetened Lime Juice
• Food.com: Limes
• Making Lime Juice