The red raspberry is a unique berry with a rich history that dates back to the first century when the fruits were gathered from the wild by the people of Troy in the foothills of Mt. Ida.
The fruit was first mentioned by Pliny the Elder, in about 45 A.D. Pliny wrote about “Ida fruits" that were harvested from the slopes of Mount Ida in Greece. Raspberries were not cultivated at that time, but were collected from the wild, primarily for medicinal use.
Dioscorides, Greek physician and pharmacologist, was a native of Anazarbus in Cilicia. In his well-known herbal De Materia Medica, Dioscorides describes the medicinal properties of the Idaean raspberry.
It is believed that raspberries to be first cultivated by Romans somewhere around fourth century AD as expressed by Palladio Opus agricultureae and seeds have been discovered at Roman forts in Britain.
The Romans are thought to have spread cultivation throughout Europe. In medieval Europe, wild berries were used for medicinal purposes and their juices for paintings and illuminating manuscripts. By the mid 1600s, raspberries had become popular in London markets.
Cultivation of red raspberry in history
