Raspberry: health benefits and virtues

Raspberry: health benefits and virtues

The raspberry bush or rubus idaeus is a succulent, bushy shrub that produces raspberries, a fruit full of health benefits and virtues.

Photo Robert Bogdan in Pexels

Its branches can reach 2 m in height. Raspberry grows wild at the edge of forests (its etymology comes from the contraction of "wild strawberry") but also in the mountainous areas of Europe.

The raspberry: a bit of history

Both sweet and meaty, raspberries are also very fragrant and will delight gourmets for dessert, jam, raspberry jelly and other coulis.

Medically, the raspberry tree was once highly coveted. It has been cultivated since the late Middle Ages.

Raspberries grow wild in many areas, but it is thanks to the arrival of the upland raspberry trees that the crop was developed in the 1950s.

Raspberry and its health benefits

With raspberry leaves, prepare a diuretic and very pleasantly perfumed herbal tea (60 g of leaves per liter of water).

Raspberry leaves are also astringent, they are very effective in case of intestinal problems, in particular against diarrhea .

In external use, raspberry leaves are particularly effective: in gargle if you have a sore throat, in mouthwash if you suffer from mouth ulcers, in lotion on the ulcers and in application on irritated eyes.

Raspberry leaves invigorate the uterus. They are used in herbal infusions (mixed with alkimia, lemon balm, nettle, yarrow and St. John's wort in equal amounts) to prepare for childbirth by increasing the strength of contractions.

Raspberry is a delicious fruit, refreshing, diuretic and laxative. Very low in sucrose, it is not forbidden for diabetics.

Raspberry contains folic acid (vitamin B9) : it is therefore recommended for pregnant women in the first months of pregnancy. It is also said to help prevent Alzheimer's disease.

Did you know that?

• Internal use:

Raspberry leaf infusion: 40 to 50 grams of leaves per liter of water. Leave in infusion for 10 minutes. Consume 3 or 4 cups per day. Against diarrhea or before delivery (drink from the 7th month of pregnancy).

Raspberry syrup: cook the same weight of sugar and fruit juice to the desired consistency. This syrup is very refreshing in case of febrile illness, it is also a diuretic.

Raspberry vinegar: exquisite, it is prepared by covering the fruit, confined in a jar, with white vinegar (about 1 liter of vinegar for 1.5 kg of fruit).

Leave to macerate for 10 days, filter. You can sweeten this syrup with sugar or honey. If you wish to obtain a homemade raspberry liqueur, change the vinegar for white brandy.

• External use: all the above preparations, leaf infusion, syrup, vinegar or raspberry vinegar syrup are effective for gargle against angina.

Growing raspberries for their benefits

Raspberry appreciates semi-shade or sunlight (north of the Loire), as well as slightly acidic, fairly moist and well-drained soils that are neither too dry in summer nor too waterlogged in winter.

1. Gardening: raspberry bushes must be well grown.

Advice:

You should plant your raspberry bushes in the hedges, along a fence. They will have a protective role thanks to their thorns and will be attractive too, thanks to their fruit.

Raspberry bush in a pot?

It is better not to get into the raspberry pot business. It would be too laborious, the raspberry bush sucks a lot...

Beware of the little beasts!

- Grey rot: causes whitish spots on the fruit.

- Raspberry worm: a 3 mm long beetle that lays its eggs in flowers. Its larvae, identical to the small white worms, develop in the fruit.

- Older plants: can be attacked by a bacterium that causes a chancre (ulceration) in the roots. No treatment is possible, you will have to remove the foot.

- As for the rest... Oidium, aphids, desiccation, the stains also attack raspberries.

Raspberry in the kitchen for its benefits

Plain or with sugar, they can be eaten raw; in juice, coulis, cakes, sorbets, jams or to flavor the vinegar. Raspberries are also used to make liqueurs and brandies.

Kitchen

The nutritional intake of raspberry :

38 kcal/100 g. Raspberry contains vitamin C (25 mg/100 g).

It is very rich in mineral elements: iron (with 0.7 mg/100 g, it is one of the richest fruits in iron), calcium, magnesium.

It is also rich in fiber, regulates intestinal transit.

Raspberry leaves are astringent, tonic, depurative and diuretic.

The organic acids contained in yudan help to balance the pH of the blood after a sport effort.

Gourmet ideas:

Looking for a refreshing variation on tiramisu? Dare to try raspberry tiramisu! And for a light and original dessert, there are the raspberry clouds, made with little Swiss, egg whites, sugar and raspberries of course!

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