The raspberry (plural, raspberries) is the edible fruit of a multitude of plant species in the subgenus Idaeobatus of the genus Rubus; the name also applies to these plants themselves. The name originally referred to the European species Rubus idaeus (with red fruit) still used as its standard English name.[1]
Species
Several species closely related in the subgenus Idaeobatus are now also called raspberries, including:
Cultivation
Raspberry in flower in a garden
Raspberries are grown for the fresh fruit market and for commercial processing into individually quick frozen (IQF) fruit, purée, juice, or as dried fruit used in a variety of grocery products. Traditionally, raspberries were a mid-summer crop, but with new technology, cultivars, and transportation, they can now be obtained year-round. Raspberries need ample sun and water for optimal development. While moisture is essential, wet and heavy soils or excess irrigation can bring on Phytophthora root rot which is one of the most serious pest problems facing red raspberry. As a cultivated plant in moist temperate regions, it is easy to grow and has a tendency to spread unless pruned. Escaped raspberries frequently appear as garden weeds, spread by seeds found in bird droppings.
Two types of most commercially grown kinds of raspberry are available, the summer-bearing type that produces an abundance of fruit on second-year canes (floricanes) within a relatively short period in mid-summer, and double- or "ever"-bearing plants, which also bear some fruit on first-year canes (primocanes) in the late summer and fall, as well as the summer crop on second-year canes. Raspberries can be cultivated from hardiness zones 3 to 9.
Raspberries are traditionally planted in the winter as dormant canes, although planting of tender, plug plants produced by tissue culture has become much more common. A specialized production system called "long cane production" involves growing canes for 1 year in a northern climate such as Scotland (UK) or Washington State (US) where the chilling requirement for proper budbreak is met early. These canes are then dug, roots and all, to be replanted in warmer climates such as Spain where they quickly flower and produce a very early season crop. Plants should be spaced 1 m apart in fertile, well drained soil; raspberries are usually planted in raised beds/ridges if there is any question about root rot problems.
The flowers can be a major nectar source for honeybees and other pollinators.
Raspberries are very vigorous and can be locally invasive. They propagate using basal shoots (also known as suckers); extended underground shoots that develop roots and individual plants. They can sucker new canes some distance from the main plant. For this reason, raspberries spread well, and can take over gardens if left unchecked.
The fruit is harvested when it comes off the torus/receptacle easily and has turned a deep color (red, black, purple, or golden yellow, depending on the species and cultivar). This is when the fruits are most ripe and sweetest. Excess fruit can be made into raspberry jam or frozen.
The leaves can be used fresh or dried in herbal and medicinal teas. They have an astringent flavour, and in herbal medicine are reputed to be effective in regulating menses.
An individual raspberry weighs about 4 g, on average[2] and is made up of around 100 drupelets,[3] each of which consists of a juicy pulp and a single central seed. Raspberry bushes can yield several hundred berries a year. Unlike blackberries and dewberries, a raspberry has a hollow core once it is removed from the receptacle.
Cultivars
Numerous raspberry cultivars have been selected. Recent breeding has resulted in cultivars that are thornless and more strongly upright, not needing staking.
Red raspberries (Rubus idaeus and/or Rubus strigosus) have been crossed with the black raspberry (Rubus occidentalis) to produce purple raspberries, and with various species in other subgenera of the genus Rubus, resulting in a number of hybrids, such as boysenberry and loganberry. Hybridization between the familiar cultivated raspberries and a few Asiatic species of Rubus is also being explored.
Selected important cultivars
Source: New RHS Dictionary of Gardening.[4]
- Red, early summer fruiting
- Boyne
- Fertődi Venus
- Rubin Bulgarski
- Cascade Dawn
- Glen Clova
- Glen Moy
- Killarney
- Malahat
- Malling Exploit
- Titan
- Willamette
- Red, mid summer
- Cuthbert
- Lloyd George
- Meeker
- Newburgh
- Ripley
- Skeena
- Cowichan
- Chemainus
- Saanich
- Red, late summer
- Cascade Delight
- Coho
- Fertődi Rubina
- Glen Prosen
- Malling Leo
- Octavia
- Schoenemann
- Tulameen
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- Red, primocane, fall, autumn fruiting
- Amity
- Augusta
- Autumn Bliss
- Caroline
- Fertődi Kétszertermő
- Heritage
- Josephine
- Ripley
- Summit
- Zeva Herbsternte
- Gold/Yellow, primocane, fall, autumn fruiting
- Anne
- Fallgold
- Fertődi Aranyfürt
- Goldenwest
- Golden Queen
- Honey Queen
- Purple
- Black
- Black Hawk
- Bristol
- Cumberland
- Glencoe
- Jewel
- Munger
- Ohio Everbearer
- Scepter
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In Scotland, raspberries have been crossed with other berries to produce fruit with unique flavors. The raspberry and the blackberry were crossed at the Scottish Crops Research Institute to produce the Tayberry.
Diseases and pests
Wasps can be a nuisance on raspberries
Raspberries are sometimes eaten by the larvae of some Lepidoptera species (butterflies and moths). See list of Lepidoptera that feed on Rubus. Botrytis Cinerea, or Gray Mold is a common fungal infection of raspberries and other soft fruit. It is seen as a grey mold growing on the raspberries, and particularly affects fruit which is bruised, as it provides an easy entrance point for the spores of B. Cinerea.
Raspberry plants should not be planted where potatoes, tomatoes, peppers, eggplants or bulbs have previously been grown, without prior fumigation of the soil. These crops are hosts for the disease Verticillium Wilt, a fungus that can stay in the soil for many years and can infest the raspberry crop.[5]
Commerce
Raspberries are an important commercial fruit crop, widely grown in all temperate regions of the world. Many of the most important modern commercial red raspberry cultivars derive from hybrids between R. idaeus and R. strigosus.[4] Some botanists consider the Eurasian and American red raspberries to all belong to a single, circumboreal species, Rubus idaeus, with the European plants then classified as either R. idaeus subsp. idaeus or R. idaeus var. idaeus, and the native North American red raspberries classified as either R. idaeus subsp. strigosus, or R. idaeus var. strigosus.
The black raspberry, Rubus occidentalis, is also occasionally cultivated in the United States, providing both fresh and frozen fruit as well as jams, preserves, and other products, all with that species' distinctive, richer flavor.
Purple-fruited raspberries have been produced by horticultural hybridization of red and black raspberries, and have also been found in the wild in a few places (for example, in Vermont) where the American red and the black raspberries both grow naturally. The unofficial name Rubus × neglectus has been applied to these native American plants for which commercial production is rare.
Red and black raspberry species have albino-like pale-yellow variants resulting from expression of recessive genes for anthocyanin pigments. Variously called golden raspberries, yellow or (rarely) orange raspberries retain the distinctive flavor of their respective species. In the eastern United States, most commercially sold pale-fruited raspberries are derivatives of red raspberries. Yellow-fruited variants of the black raspberry occur occasionally in the wild or are grown in home gardens.
Nutrients and potential health benefits
Raspberries contain significant amounts of polyphenol antioxidants such as anthocyanin pigments linked to potential health protection against several human diseases.[6] The aggregate fruit structure contributes to its nutritional value, as it increases the proportion of dietary fiber, placing it among plant foods with the highest fiber contents known, up to 20% fiber per total weight. Raspberries are a rich source of vitamin C, with 30 mg per serving of 1 cup (about 50% daily value), manganese (about 60% daily value) and dietary fiber (30% daily value). Contents of B vitamins 1-3, folic acid, magnesium, copper and iron are considerable in raspberries.[7]
Raspberries rank near the top of all fruits for antioxidant strength, particularly due to their dense contents of ellagic acid (from ellagotannins), quercetin, gallic acid, anthocyanins, cyanidins, pelargonidins, catechins, kaempferol and salicylic acid. Yellow raspberries and others with pale-colored fruits are lower in anthocyanins.
Due to their rich contents of antioxidant vitamin C and the polyphenols mentioned above, raspberries have an ORAC value (oxygen radical absorbance capacity) of about 4900 per 100 grams, including them among the top-ranked ORAC fruits. Cranberries and wild blueberries have around 9000 ORAC units and apples average 2800.[8]
The following anti-disease properties have been isolated in experimental models. Although there are no clinical studies to date proving these effects in humans, preliminary medical research shows likely benefit of regularly consuming raspberries against:[9][dead link][10][11][12]
References
- ^ Flora of NW Europe: Rubus idaeus
- ^ Health and healing fact sheets, blackberries ~ Connecting Berry Health Benefit Researchers
- ^ Blackwell Synergy - Physiol Plant, Volume 110 Issue 4 Page 535-543, December 2000 (Article Abstract)
- ^ a b Huxley, A., ed. (1992). New RHS Dictionary of Gardening. Macmillan ISBN 0-333-47494-5.
- ^ Spooner farms certified raspberry Plants "Planting Information" http://www.spoonerfarms.com/plantinginformation.htm
- ^ Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry Presents Research from the 2007 International Berry Health Benefits Symposium, Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry ACS Publications, February 2008
- ^ World's Healthiest Foods, in-depth nutrient profile for raspberries
- ^ Wu X, Beecher GR, Holden JM, Haytowitz DB, Gebhardt SE, Prior RL. Lipophilic and hydrophilic antioxidant capacities of common foods in the United States. J Agric Food Chem. 2004 Jun 16;52(12):4026-37. Abstract.
- ^ Health and nutrition facts, Washington Red Raspberry Commission
- ^ Liu M, Li XQ, Weber C, Lee CY, Brown J, Liu RH. Antioxidant and antiproliferative activities of raspberries. J Agric Food Chem. 2002 May 8;50(10):2926-30.Abstract.
- ^ Heinonen M. Antioxidant activity and antimicrobial effect of berry phenolics--a Finnish perspective. Mol Nutr Food Res. 2007 Jun;51(6):684-91.Abstract.
- ^ Cerdá B, Tomás-Barberán FA, Espín JC. Metabolism of antioxidant and chemopreventive ellagitannins from strawberries, raspberries, walnuts, and oak-aged wine in humans: identification of biomarkers and individual variability. J Agric Food Chem. 2005 Jan 26;53(2):227-35.Abstract.
See also
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