Marionberries

The marionberry is a Pacific Northwest invention: a cross between the wild blackberry, loganberry, and the raspberry. Name for Marion County, Oregon, where they were first extensively grown and fresh Marionberries are a rarity outside the Northwest.

Marionberries have an aromatic bouquet and an intense blackberry flavor. They are usually quite tart (as a result, this recipe does not call for any lemon juice).

Marionberries are an expensive crop to produce. Marionberries can be grown in either an every year or alternate year production system. In the every year system, a crop is produced every year with dead fruiting canes removed after harvest and the new primocanes trained in either August or February.

Marionberry contains high levels of anthocyanins (109-155 mg per 100g), polyphenolics that can protect against cancer, heart and circulatory diseases and age related mental decline. Marionberry also contains high levels of strong antioxidants such as Vitamin C, gallic acid and rutin that help promote circulatory health, and fight against cancer
Marionberries

Black raspberry (Rubus occidentalis)

Rubus occidentalis or black raspberry is native to North America, Fruit flavor is stronger and the fruit is generally smaller than that of red raspberry. Black raspberries are not as winter-hardy as red ones, but tend to tolerate more summer heat. They also are more prone to viral and fungal disease and have stiffer thorns. The berries are seedy but have a very intense flavor. They are good eaten fresh or in preserves.

Primocanes are produced from buds at the base of floricanes at the crown or from buds on roots in red raspberry. Black raspberries only produce new primocanes from buds on the crown.

They exhibit high antioxidant activities due in part, to their high levels of anthocyanins, ellagitannins and other phenols. Black raspberries have four major anthocyanins: cyanidin 3-glucoside, cyaniding 3-rutinoside, cyanidin 3-sambubioside and cyanidin 3-xylosylrutinoside.

The black raspberries have a much greater total anthocyanin concentration compared to red raspberry. Black raspberries have been investigated extensively for their ability to prevent cancer in rodents and potentially in humans.
Black raspberry (Rubus occidentalis)

Raspberry phenolic compounds

The wide range of values reported for various classes of phenolic in berries reflect differences in genetics, cultural practices, environmental growing conditions, and possibly maturation. It was reported that the color of raspberry juice correlated with the total phenolic.

Black raspberries had the highest ORAC (Oxygen Radical Absorbance), anthocyanin and phenolic compounds. Anthocyanins are the major phenolics present in black raspberries, with levels ranging from 464 to 627 mg/100 g FW.

Black raspberries also contain appreciable levels of total ellagic acid which most likely is due to high concentrations of ellagitannins in the fruit.

Red raspberry seeds contained more phenolic compounds (ellagic acid content) than pulp, but leaves had a higher content than seeds or pulp. Phenolic compounds ellagic acid, a dimeric derivative of gallic acid, is suggested as an anti- carcinogenic/anti-mutagenic compound. It is present in plants in the form of hydrolysable tannins called ellagitannins.

 Only red raspberries had detectable amounts of procyanidin oligomers (monomer, dimers and trimers).
Raspberry phenolic compounds

Monoamine compound tyramine in fresh raspberries

Dietary tyramine in high doses acts as a pseudotransmitter with stimulant and pressor effects. Tyramine is a product of bacterial tyrosine metabolism, leading to high levels in aged or unfresh protein-rich food such as cheese.

The tyramine content of fruits is generally low. The tyramine content of fresh raspberries varies from 12.8 to 92.5 ug/g. and that of raspberry jams from 8.0 to 38.4 ug/g.

The tyramine level in raspberries in comparison with that in other fruit indicates that tyramine is a useful indicator of the presence of raspberry in fruit products.

Other fruits containing low level of tyramine are avocados, bananas, figs, red plums, pineapples, raspberries. Excess tyramine can cause sudden sometimes fatal increase in blood pressure.
Monoamine compound tyramine in fresh raspberries

Purple raspberries

Also known as purple-cane hybrids, purple raspberries are domesticated cultivars with a mixture of red and black raspberry genes.

Most purple varieties are similar in flavor to the raspberries; however some purple varieties produce canes, and others share the growth habit of the black raspberries.

The canes are generally more winter hardy than the black parents. They tend to be very spiny and productive with large, intensely flavored berries.

The canes are prickly but not bristly, have an arching habit, and root at the tip. Leaves are morphologically variable and the flowering branches glabrous. Fruits are dark red to purple.

The purple raspberry cultivar ‘Royal’ is now widely grown in northeast China, where it is highly productive, amenable to cane burying for winter an harvested at the early stages of ripeness when it can be sold as ‘red raspberry’.
Purple raspberries

Yellow raspberries

Raspberries are easy to grow, bear their first fruits the same year or one year after they’re planted and taste great fresh or in pies, jams, spreads, syrups, dressings and sorbets. Raspberries come in a variety of colors – red, yellow, black and purple – each kind with its own distinctive flavor.

Yellow raspberries are mutations, or sports, reds and tend to be very sweet. The color is less attractive to birds, too. Yellow raspberries are variations of red raspberries and except for fruit color have all the characteristics of red raspberries.

They are grown chiefly in home gardens. Yellow raspberries bear fruits on stalks that grow directly off canes, while black raspberries and blackberries bear fruits on stalks arising on branches from canes.

Yellow raspberries are still rarely seen in stores because they are so fragile. However both red and yellow raspberries are very cold tolerant, hardy as far as Canada.
Yellow raspberries

Processing of Raspberries

Processing of Raspberries
At the processing plant, the fruit is washed with gentle sprays of water and drained on a metal mesh belt. If the product is to be handled in the fresh state, it is placed in small, retail sized baskets usually with a cellophane over wrap and quickly cooled to 31 to 32 degrees F. In this condition, the fruit has a storage life only 5 – 7 days.

Some raspberries are frozen for the bakery trade and many for the manufacture of raspberry jam and jelly. To prepare them for freezing, the washed and drained berries may be placed in wooden barrels without sugar, and then placed in a room at 0 degree F or below and allowed to freeze slowly. Usually however, they are mixed with sugar (three parts fruits to one part sugar) then packed in slip cover cans of 50 Ib capacity. The covered fruit is allowed to freeze in cold rooms at 0 degree F or below.

In the manufacture of jam, the deforested fruit is passed through a pulper that allows essentially all the berries with the seeds to pass through the strainer. Sugar and water are then added the amount of sugar depending on whether the frozen product was packed with or without sugar. About 0.1 – 0.15% dispersed pectin is then added and the product is heated in open kettles to concentrate it to soluble solids content about 68%. Citric acid solution is then added to adjust the pH to 3.3 and the fruit is packed in glass jars and vacuum capped. The jars of product are then heated to bring the temperature of all parts to about 160 degree F after which the product is cooled.
Processing of Raspberries

Raspberries

Raspberries
There are many varieties of raspberries that are red, black, or purple in color. The purple varieties have been produced by cross breeding the red and black varieties. Raspberries grow on canes the second year after planting, and since the canes produce fruit only once, they must be pruned each year.

Raspberries are grown over most parts of the United States, but they are sensitive to both extreme heat and extreme cold. Therefore, in certain areas, the plants may need some type of protection from extremes of weather. Because of their delicate structure, raspberries must be handled carefully during their harvest and processing. They are generally harvested into shallow trays, to prevent crushing, in which they are transported to the plant.

There are two types of raspberries: summer bearing and fall bearing. In some areas of the country, their bearing season may overlap, so raspberries can be harvested early summer until frost. Red and yellow cultivars are summer or fall bearers. Black and purple raspberries are all summer-bearers.

Red and yellow raspberries are the easiest raspberries to grow. Their fruit is sweet and fragrant. Yellow raspberries are mutations, or sports, reds and tend to be very sweet. The color is less attractive to birds, too. Black raspberries are not as winter-hardy as red ones, but tend to tolerate more summer heat. They also are more prone to viral and fungal disease and have stiffer thorns. The berries are seedy but have a very intense flavor. They are good eaten fresh or in preserves.

Purple raspberries are hybrids resulting from crosses between reds and blacks. The canes are generally more winter hardy than the black parents. They tend to be very spiny and productive with large, intensely flavored berries.
Raspberries