Raspberry

Fruit of four species of raspberry. Clockwise from top left: Boulder raspberry, Korean raspberry, Australian native raspberry, West Indian raspberry

Cultivated raspberries are usually hybrids between Rubus idaeus and R. strigosus

The raspberry is the edible fruit of a multitude of plant species in the genus Rubus, most of which are in the subgenus Idaeobatus; the name also applies to these plants themselves. Raspberries are perennial. The name originally referred to the European species Rubus idaeus (with red fruit), and is still used as its standard English name.^[1]

Contents 1 Species 2 Cultivation 2.1 Cultivars 2.2 Selected important cultivars 2.3 Diseases and pests 3 Commerce 4 Nutrients and health benefits

Species

Examples of raspberry species in subgenus Idaeobatus include:

• Rubus crataegifolius (Korean raspberry)
• Rubus idaeus (European red raspberry)
• Rubus leucodermis (Whitebark or Western raspberry, Blue raspberry, Black raspberry)
• Rubus occidentalis (Black raspberry)
• Rubus parvifolius (Australian native raspberry)
• Rubus phoenicolasius (Wine raspberry or Wineberry)
• Rubus rosifolius (West Indian raspberry)
• Rubus strigosus (American red raspberry) (syn. R. idaeus var. strigosus)

Several species of Rubus are also called raspberries that are classified in other subgenera, including:

• Rubus arcticus (Arctic raspberry, subgenus Cyclactis)
• Rubus deliciosus (Boulder raspberry, subgenus Anoplobatus)
• Rubus nivalis (Snow raspberry, subgenus Chamaebatus)
• Rubus odoratus (Flowering raspberry, subgenus Anoplobatus)
• Rubus sieboldii (Molucca raspberry, subgenus Malachobatus)

Cultivation

Cultivated raspberry, in flower in a garden

Immature fruit of cultivated raspberry

Output in Tons, 2003-2004: FAOSTAT (FAO)
Russia	95000	26 %	110000	28 %
Serbia	79471	21 %	79180	20 %
United States	48535	13 %	50000	13 %
Poland	42941	12 %	42000	11 %
Germany	20600	6 %	20500	5 %
Ukraine	19700	5 %	20000	5 %
Canada	14236	4 %	13700	4 %
Hungary	9000	2 %	10000	3 %
United Kingdom	8000	2 %	8000	2 %
France	6830	2 %	7500	2 %
The Rest	27603	7 %	27890	7 %
Total	371916	100 %	389061	100 %

Worldwide raspberry yield

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 ripest 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

A "golden" raspberry cultivar

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

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 Brandywine Royalty Black Black Hawk Bristol Cumberland Glencoe Jewel Munger Ohio Everbearer Scepter

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

This section requires expansion.

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.

This section requires expansion.

Nutrients and health benefits

Raw Raspberries

Nutritional value per 100 g (3.5 oz)
Energy	263.592 kJ (63.000 kcal)
Carbohydrates	14.7 g
Sugars	5.4 g
Dietary fiber	8 g
Fat	.8 g
saturated	0 g
monounsaturated	.1 g
polyunsaturated	.5 g
Protein	1.5 g
Vitamin A equiv.	1 μg (0%)
- beta-carotene	120 μg (1%)
Vitamin C	54 mg (90%)
Calcium	3 mg (0%)
Iron	5 mg (40%)
Sodium	1 mg (0%)
Percentages are relative to US recommendations for adults. Source: USDA Nutrient database

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]
Although there are no clinical studies to date proving these effects in humans, antioxidant and antiproliferative (chemopreventive) effects against cancer have been linked to the amount of phenolics and flavonoids in various foods including raspberries.^[9][10][11]