Raspberry, raw (organic?)

Raspberries (Rubus idaeus) are a very popular fruit — they taste delicious and are a versatile ingredient in the kitchen.

Culinary uses:

Raspberries are an extremely healthy, fresh snack and are a popular ingredient in many recipes. They can be eaten fresh in fruit salads, savory salads, raspberry tiramisu, muesli, smoothies, fruit shakes, raspberry dream, fruit gazpacho, raspberry puree, and used as fillings for pastries, roulade, and chocolates. They can also be eaten fresh on top of a cake and in raw vegan cake recipes.

Raspberries are also commonly made into jam, jelly, compote, rødgrød, juice, syrup, ice cream, and parfaits. They are also great for making flavored vinegars and can be used in a variety of baking recipes, for example, Raspberry Muffins.

In spring, you can eat raspberry shoot tips. They are a tasty treat and have a slightly coconut flavor. Raspberry leaves are a bit like apple leaves and have a mild flavor. They can be dried and used to make tea. When fermented, the leaves look a bit like black tea.¹

Raspberries are an ingredient in gluten-free, raw vegan Erb Muesli. This muesli mix contains bananas, apples, which are rich in fiber, citrus fruits brimming with vitamin C, and berries full of antioxidants, as well as other pseudograins, seeds, and golden millet. You can also try Erb Muesli with Rolled Oats!

Vegan recipe for Quick Raspberry and Yogurt Ice Cream:

To make 4 servings, use 300 g frozen raspberries and 500 g soy yogurt. Puree the ingredients with 2 tablespoons sugar or an alternative sweetener. If desired, add vanilla bean pod or vanilla extract. Divide into four bowls and garnish with fresh raspberries. The ice cream loses its consistency when you refreeze it, so we recommend serving immediately.

Vegan recipe for No-Bake Raspberry Cheesecake:

To make the crust, cut 300 g dates into pieces and puree them with 150 g walnuts in a high-speed mixer. Grease a cake tin and line with the crust mixture. Put in the freezer for about one hour. During this time, puree 200 g raspberries with the juice from half a lemon and put aside. Mix 200 g soy whipped cream with 400 g soy yogurt, 40 g sugar, and 1 package of vanilla sugar and refrigerate. Stir 5 g agar-agar into 100 mL oat milk and bring to a boil. Add the raspberries and mix gently with the yogurt cream. Pour the filling over the crust and let it set overnight in the fridge.

Recipe for Raspberry Leaf Tea:

To make a large cup of tea, pour boiling water over 1 tablespoon of dried crushed raspberry leaves. Place a lid over the cup and strain the leaves after 5–10 minutes (max. 15 minutes).

Purchasing — where to shop:

You can buy fresh and frozen raspberries at all major supermarkets, including Walmart, Whole Foods Markets, Kroger, and Safeway (United States); Extra Foods, Metro, and Freshmart (Canada); Asda, Sainsbury’s, Tesco, Aldi, and Lidl (Great Britain); Woolworths, Coles, Aldi, and Harris Farm (Australia). You can also buy raspberries at organic supermarkets and health food stores. In addition, you may be able to find freeze-dried raspberries in health food stores or online.

When are raspberries in season? In Central Europe and North America, regionally grown raspberries are in season from June to October. During this time, you may also be able to buy raspberries at fresh food markets and directly from farms. Organic raspberries may also be easier to find during this time.

In Central Europe, raspberries are frequently imported from Poland, Serbia, Montenegro, and Spain from June to November. During winter in the Northern Hemisphere, raspberries are imported from Chile.²

Raspberry leaves can be bought in pharmacies and drugstores or from specialist retailers.

Finding wild:

There are multiple species of wild raspberries throughout the world. In Europe, wild raspberries are common everywhere except in Northern Europe and Southwest Europe. They are found in sunny and partially sunny locations where the soil is rich in potassium and nitrate. Wild raspberry plants thrive in high humidity and cool summer temperatures. Wild raspberries are a pioneer species, meaning that they are among the first to colonize barren environments. You may find them growing on bare ground, on rubble heaps, in quarries, and in gravel pits. However, wild raspberries thrive best on the edge of forests, in clearings, in woodland areas, in areas populated by tall perennial plants, on embankments, and on banks. Wild raspberries grow to be about one-centimeter long.^2,3,4

Storing:

Raspberries are not climacteric fruits, meaning that they do not ripen once picked. Raspberries are very sensitive to pressure and can be stored in the fridge for a maximum of a few days, even when stored at 0 °C.^2,3

Nutrients — nutritional information — calories:

Wild raspberry leaves contain tannins, flavonoids, vitamin C, natural flavorings, and ellagic acid.^1,5 A variety of phytonutrients can also be found in raspberries, particularly anthocyanins: water soluble pigments that give red plants their color.¹

How many calories do raspberries contain? Raspberries are low in calories at 52 cal/100 g. Carbohydrates are the primary type of nutrient found in raspberries, particularly fiber and sugars. Raspberries are very low in fat and protein.⁶

At 26 mg/100 g, raspberries contain a considerable amount of vitamin C. Although raspberries contain about half the vitamin C of oranges, the quantity still accounts for one-third of the recommended daily intake of vitamin C. Foods that are particularly rich in vitamin C include wild crape myrtle (1677 mg/100 g), sea buckthorn (450 mg/100 g), and guavas (228.3 mg/100 g). However, you do not have to seek out these vitamin C-rich foods to meet the recommended daily intake of vitamin C. One hundred grams of sweet pointed peppers (140 mg) or green kiwis (92.7 mg), for example, also contain more than the recommended daily intake of vitamin C.⁶

Raspberries contain considerable amounts of manganese (0.67 mg/ 100 g). Foods that are richer in manganese than raspberries include unpeeled hemp seeds (7.6 mg/100 g) and oats (4.9 mg/100 g).⁶

At 6.5 g/100 g, raspberries are a good source of fiber. Dietary fiber is beneficial for digestion. Some foods contain considerably higher quantities of dietary fibers than raspberries, including wheat bran (42.8 g/100 g), buckwheat (10 g/100 g), chestnuts (8.1 g/100 g), and passion fruit (10.4 g/100 g).⁶

Citric acid is the dominant fruit acid in raspberries, at 1720 mg/100 g. In comparison, lemon without its peel contains 4680 mg/100 g and apples contain 29 mg/100 g.^1,7

Today, lots of foods are considered superfoods. However, the term superfood is overridingly used for marketing and does not guarantee that a food is particularly healthy. Nonetheless, there is considerable scientific evidence demonstrating the health benefits of raspberries and berries in general, particularly their richness in antioxidants.

Detailed nutritional information about raspberries including the vitamins, minerals, and trace elements they contain can be found in the tables below the text. The percentage of the recommended daily intake of each nutrient is also listed.

Ratio of omega-6 to omega-3 fatty acids in berries:

Cultivated berries and wild berries usually have a very good ratio of omega-6 (linoleic acid, LA) to omega-3 fatty acids (alpha-linolenic acid, ALA). In general, berries contain very little fat and accordingly the amounts of omega-3 and omega-6 are also low.

The body absorbs alpha-linolenic acid and uses it to produce eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) and docosahexaenoic acid (DHA), both of which have anti-inflammatory effects. On the other hand, the body absorbs linoleic acid to produce arachidonic acid, which promotes inflammation. Raspberries’ healthy ratio of omega-6 to omega-3 fatty acids is another reason why they are considered a healthy food.

Detailed information on the amount of omega-3 and omega-6 fatty acids in a variety of berries (source: USDA, Önwt, Debinet).

Health benefits — effects:

What are the health benefits of raspberries? Raspberries and raspberry leaves contain flavonoids and phenolic acids, both of which have anticarcinogenic and antibiotic properties.² Ellagic acid in particular has been observed to help prevent the "growing" of cancer cells.⁸

Anthocyanins are a subgroup of flavonoids found in raspberries that have strong antioxidant effects and can neutralize free radicals. When they come into contact with oxygen, free radicals can damage DNA, deactivate enzymes, destroy receptors, and oxidize blood lipids. Free radicals are associated with acute chronic diseases and aging.⁹

Dangers — intolerances — side effects:

Constipation is a possible side effect of eating a lot of raspberries or drinking raspberry tea. The tanning agents that raspberries contain are responsible for this particular side effect.⁵

Raspberries contain a high content of citric acid, which can attack tooth enamel. Consuming raspberries causes the saliva’s pH to drop sharply. Based on the available data from the Bundesinstitut für Risikobewertung (the German Federal Institute for Risk Assessment), consuming citric acid always harms your teeth, even if it is in very small quantities. Drinking water after eating foods containing citric acid can help to dilute the acid remaining in your mouth and to accelerate the replacement of dissolved minerals. You should also avoid brushing your teeth in the first 30 minutes after consuming acidic fruits and drinks because this encourages the wearing down of the upper layers of your teeth.¹⁰

Low-growing wild berries such as wild strawberries and wild blueberries may be infected with Echinococcus multilocularis eggs: a small tapeworm. However, humans are very rarely infected with Echinococcus multilocularis. In 2015, for example, the infection rate in Germany was 0.00005 percent, or 45 people out of a population of 82 million. In cases where people have been infected with Echinococcus multilocularis, the source of the infection is unknown.¹¹

Klaus Brehm, a researcher investigating Echinococcus multilocularis at the Institut für Hygiene und Mikrobiologie (Institute for hygiene and microbiology) at Julius-Maximilians-Universität Würzburg (JMU), considers the probability that unwashed wild raspberries were the cause of an Echinococcus multilocularis infection to be low. Studies have shown that 65 % of people infected by Echinococcus multilocularis work in fields with high exposure to nature such as agriculture and forestry. Furthermore, owners of stray dogs and hunting dogs are at increased risk from infection. To reduce this risk, deworm your dogs regularly and keep them away from dead foxes. These findings suggest that the risk of infection from eating wild berries is close to 0. If you want to be certain, boil down the wild berries. Freezing will do very little to rid wild berries of Echinococcus multilocularis.¹¹

Use as a medicinal plant:

You can infuse raspberry leaves and apply externally to help treat conjunctivitis, minor wounds, burns, and venous ulcers. You can also gargle the infusion to soothe canker sores and other inflammation in the mouth and throat. Raspberry leaf tea can also be drunk to help with mild diarrhea and in alternative medicine it may be used to facilitate birth. The tannins that raspberry leaf tea contains are said to relax and strengthen the uterus muscles and stimulate milk production. Pregnant women may thus be encouraged to drink raspberry leaf tea three months before pregnancy as well as during childbirth.^1,5,12

However, the effectiveness of raspberry leaf tea for treating inflammation and for helping to prepare for giving birth has to date been highly disputed. According to comprehensive research by Holst et al (2009), there is insufficient scientific evidence for raspberry leaf tea’s effectiveness.⁵

You can make a tea from raspberry leaves, Agrimonia eupatoria, and Wood Avens to help with diarrhea. You can brew raspberry leaves and common eyebright (Euphrasia officinalis) to make eye cream. You can also brew raspberry leaves with sage (Salvia officinalis) to make mouthwash.¹²

Description — origin:

Endocasts found at pile dwellings from the Neolithic period show that raspberries were important fruits from 11,500 BC onwards. Raspberry cultivation began in the sixteenth century.³ There are a variety of raspberries that are cultivated, including American red raspberries (Rubus strigosus), European raspberries (Rubus idaeus), and black raspberries (Rubus occidentalis).^2,13

Wild raspberries are common in the temperate to boreal (far northern) zones of Europe and Western Siberia. Wild raspberries are less common in the Mediterranean region, but they may be found in southern Europe in mountainous regions and alpine foothills. Wild raspberries are native to eastern North America, Greenland, and New Zealand.³

Cultivation in the garden:

Raspberry plants grow to be 60 cm to 2 meters tall and can be divided into two main varieties: summer raspberries and autumn raspberries. Summer raspberries bear fruit from June to the end of July on canes that grew the year before. Fall raspberries bear fruit several times during summer and autumn. They bear fruit on canes from the previous year in summer and fruit on canes from the same year in autumn (from August to November).^2,14

Raspberries thrive in humus-rich, moist soil. In heavy, compacted soils with stagnant moisture, the plants should be grown on a raised mound of soil. Summer raspberries should be planted in partial shade, while autumn raspberries should be planted in a sunny, wind-protected location.¹⁴ Before planting raspberry seedlings, you should ideally add plenty of compost to the soil. As the plant grows, a special berry fertilizer can be used from spring onwards to ensure that raspberry bushes receive a balanced supply of nutrients.^3,14

Are raspberries a fruit? Botanically speaking, raspberries are aggregate fruits, that is, fruits that develop from a single flower with multiple ovaries that merge as the fruit grows. Rather than containing a central seed or pit, raspberries contain multiple drupes that come together to form a raspberry. There are several different colored varieties of raspberries, including red, yellow, and black raspberries. Their shape and size varies depending on variety, from round to oblong to conical. Raspberries require a high content of water to grow, particularly from the point of flowering until harvest.^2,4,14

How can you best look after raspberries? You should be careful when weeding raspberries because they have shallow roots. You can reduce the amount of weeds that grow around raspberries and protect the soil from drying out by adding mulch material such as straw, grass, or bark to the soil. After you have harvested the raspberries, prune the canes close to the ground. Leave the newly formed shoots to grow.¹⁴

Cultivation — harvest:

The main varieties of raspberries include Tulameen, Glen Ample, Himbo Top, Autumn Bliss, Polka, Schönemann, Zefa, and Lloyd George.³ Specialist farms usually carry out the cultivation of raspberries that are sold at fresh food markets. In 2011, the raspberry harvest in Germany was 4778.4 tons.

According to Wikipedia, the global harvest of raspberries in 2016 was 795,000 tons. Russia produced 20.7 % of the global harvest and Europe produced 62.7 % of the world harvest. The top 10 countries that produce raspberries are Russia, Serbia, Montenegro, the US, Chile, Poland, Germany, Ukraine, Canada, and Hungary.^2,3

Animal protection — species protection — animal welfare:

Raspberry flowers are rich in nectar and pollen, making them popular amongst a variety of bees and butterflies. Bees collect nectar, pollen, and honeydew. Raspberry flower nectar is rich in sugar (46 %), with each flower containing 0.18–3.8 mg sugar per day. Raspberry flowers contain high quantities of nectar and pollen.^3,13 Wild raspberries flower in May and June.¹

General information:

The most common raspberry sold and eaten today is the Rubus idaeus, originating from Europe and Western Siberia. It is one of 250 raspberry species growing worldwide and belongs to the subgenus Idaeobatus of the genus Rubus in the rose family (Rosaceae).^3,12

Why are raspberries called raspberries? The name raspberry comes from raspise, “a sweet rose-colored wine” grown in the mid-fifteenth century.

Alternative names:

Raspberries are also known as hindberries, European raspberries, framboises, red raspberries, thimbleberries, scotch caps, black caps, and brambles.

Keywords for use:

Raspberry extracts are used to flavor medicine. Raspberry essence is used in medicine and bath products.¹²

Literature — sources:

Author: Georgia Wilkinson | 29 Aug 2016