Lime Calories & Nutrition Calculator

Lime provides 29.1mg vitamin C per 100g — 32% of the daily value. This is significantly less than lemon (53mg, 59% DV) despite the two fruits being used almost interchangeably in cooking. Orange surpasses both at 53.2mg, while guava (228mg) dwarfs the entire citrus family ^[1].

One lime (67g) delivers 19.5mg vitamin C (22% DV). Juice of one lime (~31g) = 9.3mg (10% DV). A tablespoon of lime juice (15g) = 4.5mg (5% DV). These are meaningful but modest vitamin C contributions — you would need juice from 3 limes to match the vitamin C in a single medium orange.

For food journaling, the lemon-vs-lime vitamin C gap means they are not nutritional equivalents despite similar culinary roles. If tracking vitamin C intake matters in your food journal, lemon delivers roughly 1.8x more vitamin C per gram than lime. This difference is entirely about variety genetics, not freshness or preparation.

Lime has 33mg calcium per 100g — higher than lemon (26mg), orange (40mg is higher), banana (5mg), apple (6mg), and grape (10mg). Among citrus, only dried figs (35mg) and some dried fruits exceed lime's calcium content significantly among commonly consumed fruits ^[1].

While 33mg per 100g is modest in absolute terms (3% DV), lime's calcium stands out because fruit is generally a poor calcium source. One lime (67g) provides 22mg calcium. If consuming lime pickle (nimbu achar), where whole limes including the rind are preserved, the calcium contribution may be somewhat higher due to the calcium-richer peel.

For food journaling, lime's calcium is a minor but non-zero contribution — one of the few fruits where calcium is worth noting. However, it would take 39 limes (2.6 kg) to equal the calcium in one glass of milk (300mg). Lime is not a calcium replacement but a fruit-category contributor.

Lime has just 1.7g sugar per 100g — lower than lemon (2.5g), grapefruit (7.0g), orange (9.4g), and apple (10.4g). It is the lowest-sugar common fruit available. The total carbohydrate content is 10.5g, but 2.8g is fiber and the majority of the remainder is non-sugar carbohydrate including pectin and organic acids ^[1].

The extreme sourness of lime (pH 2.0-2.4) comes from citric acid — lime juice contains approximately 5-6% citric acid by weight, similar to lemon. This acid dominance completely masks the small amount of sugar present, creating a perception of zero sweetness despite containing some glucose and fructose.

For food journaling, lime is functionally sugar-free at typical usage quantities. A tablespoon of juice (15g) has 0.25g sugar — truly negligible. Even a full cup of lime juice (246g) has only 4.2g sugar — less sugar than a single grape. Lime can be considered a zero-sugar flavoring agent.

Both lime and lemon share an unusually high 0.6mg iron per 100g — significantly more than orange (0.10mg), grapefruit (0.08mg), and mandarin (0.15mg). At 30 kcal per 100g, lime delivers 0.02mg iron per calorie — one of the highest ratios among all fruits ^[1].

Like lemon, lime's iron is concentrated in the pulp and membrane, not the juice. Lime juice has only 0.09mg iron per 100g — 85% less than whole lime. The vitamin C (29.1mg in whole lime) exists alongside this iron, creating a theoretically favorable absorption ratio.

For food journaling, the practical iron contribution from lime is small because typical consumption is juice-only (0.09mg/100g). However, the culinary practice of squeezing lime over iron-rich dishes (dal, spinach, beans) serves a dual purpose: flavor enhancement and facilitating non-heme iron absorption from the main food.

One lime (67g) has 20 kcal. A wedge (8g) = 2.4 kcal. Juice of one lime (~31g) = 7.8 kcal. A tablespoon of juice (15g) = 3.8 kcal. Like lemon, lime functions as a condiment-level caloric addition in virtually all real-world uses ^[1].

The most common lime uses — a squeeze over food, lime water, salad dressing, cooking — involve 15-30g of juice (4-8 kcal). These are calorically invisible. The exception is nimbu pani (Indian lime water) with sugar: juice of 1 lime + 15g sugar = ~68 kcal, where sugar contributes 88% of the calories.

Lime pickle (nimbu achar) is a different calculation entirely: whole limes preserved in salt and oil can have 150-250 kcal per 100g depending on the oil quantity. One tablespoon of lime pickle (~15g) may have 22-38 kcal. Always log pickle separately from fresh lime — they are nutritionally different products.