| Red Raspberry |
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Raspberries are loaded with nutritional benefits. They are a good source of vitamin C, fiber, and antioxidants. Raspberries are especially high in the antioxidant ellagic acid, which has antibacterial and antiviral properties. Ellagic acid has been shown to both fight and prevent cancer in laboratory studies.
Raspberries are a bramble fruit, which is typically a shrub with prickly stems. All bramble fruits are also aggregate fruits, formed by the clustering of several smaller fruits. Each bubble of the tiny raspberry is actually a single fruit called a drupelet. A drupelet has the same structure as a plum, cherry or apricot, with a thin skin covering the flesh and a pit in the center containing the seed. Because of their structure, raspberries are not true berries, though it is standard to refer to them as such. Most cultivated raspberries are red, but there are also yellow, apricot, amber, purple, and black raspberries. Purple and black raspberries are sometimes grown on small retail farms, but due to their low tolerance for cold, disease and handling, they are usually very expensive. A gallon of black raspberry juice concentrate will sell for over $200. Red raspberries are quite a bit hardier than the other varieties, and are the only raspberries sold commercially in any significant quantity. Raspberries are very fragile. Therefore, nearly all raspberries grown commercially are processed. Most are used to make preserves, jams, and jellies. A very small percentage of the raspberry crop is sold fresh, and the rest is individually quick frozen or canned, made into juices or extracts, or added to baked goods, ice creams and yogurts. Some of the most important commercially grown brambles are actually blackberry-red raspberry hybrids. Examples include boysenberries, loganberries and youngberries, each with their own unique flavor. Available Red Raspberry Products:
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