Origins : Nutritional Information : Quick Facts

Early Origins of the Red Raspberry

Blackberries and red raspberries have been used as a food source and medicinal plant for at least 10,000 years (Scientists uncover, 1998). The recent find near Bend, Oregon revealed remnants from berries in the ancient hearth that was discovered in Newberry Crater. Caneberries have been cultivated by the Greeks as early as 370 B.C (Brambles, 1989). Caneberries are mentioned in the writings of Aeschylus and Hippocrates 500 years before Christ (Hendrickson,1981).

The Raspberry

There is a legend that the raspberry's scientific name, Rubus idaeus, was derived from Mount Ida in Turkey (Jennings, 1988). Apparently, Greek Gods discovered the raspberry there and hence the name. At that time raspberries were used as a medicine rather than as a food and the berries were not cultivated but wild. The medicinal uses for the wild raspberries include:

• The blossom was used to make an eye ointment or a stomach draught.
• The roots were crushed and used as an astringent or made into a tea for dysentery.
• Some roots were used as a cough remedy by chewing.
• Raspberry tea was used for relief of uterine contractions during childbirth.
• Raspberry leaf tea was used to wash and clean old sores.
• Raspberry leaves were used to make a tea to heal stomach and throat problems (Erichsen-Brown, 1979).

Raspberries were actually cultivated by the Romans in the 4th century (Brambles, 1989). Linnaeus used the name iadeus was for the red raspberry; for the genus, he used the name Rubus from the Latin Ruber, which means red (Jennings, 1988).

In the 16th century raspberries began to show up in home gardens in Europe as the wild berry plants were brought in from woodlands. The use of the raspberry as a medicine continued to be common at this time. It is believed, according to Jennings that the term Rasp came from the Anglo-Saxon Resp which means shoot or sucker (Jennings, 1988).

The 19th century saw twenty or more cultivars for red raspberries in England and the U.S. The first U.S. raspberries were brought from Europe in 1771 and sold in New York. After the American Civil War, commercial raspberry production began to increase. Many private individuals developed new cultivars and propagation methods. By the late 1800s about 2,000 acres of raspberries were grown, by the early 1900s about 54,000 acres were in production and by 1948 nearly 60,000 acres (Bramble, 1989).

Bibliography

Erichsen-Brown, (1979) Medicinal and Other uses of North American Plants. New York: Dover Publications.

Fruit processing. Encyclopedia Britannica (1999) [On-line]

Hendrickson, R. (1981) The Berry Book. New York: Doubleday.

Jenning, D. L. (1988). Raspberries and Blackberries, Their Breeding, Diseases and Growth. San Diego, CA: Academic Press Limited.

Scientists Uncover Ancient Home. (1998, October 9). Albany Democrat Herald. p. A4.

USDA (1988) Dietary Fiber of Selected Foods. Agricultural Handbook. HNIS.

USDA (1987) Sugar Content of Selected Foods. Agricultural Handbook. HNIS.

USDA Human Nutrition Service. (1982) Composition of Foods, Fruits, and Fruit Juices-Raw, Processed, Prepared. Agr. Handbook No. 8-9.