When walking in the middle of summer through a beech forest, the pleasure of the incessant play of light and shadow is added with the reward of small surprises. The understory is dotted with pleasantly flavored berries, such as strawberries, raspberries and blueberries.

Among them, raspberries stand out, for being sweet, juicy and very beneficial for health. Some people confuse them with wild strawberries and blackberries, all of them from a very prolific family, because they have underground stems from which shoots with similar leaves emerge.

The raspberry is larger than the tiny forest strawberries and smaller than the cultivated strawberries. While strawberries present all their seeds to the outside, raspberries form small globes, like blackberries, with a seed inside that is barely noticeable.

They are distinguished from blackberries by their pink color, their more elongated shape and a somewhat more acidic taste. They bloom from May to June and They are harvested in August, when they are very ripe.

Each raspberry consists of about eighty drupes full of juice, and their exact degree of ripeness can be recognized because they come off easily.

Raspberry properties

It is one of the least caloric fruits: only 32 calories per 100 g. Up to 87% of its weight is water, and it does not stand out as a source of proteins, fats or carbohydrates (the latter are simple sugars such as fructose, and soluble fiber such as pectin).

As for minerals, it provides significant amounts of manganese (up to 34% of the minimum recommended intake per day), iron, magnesium, phosphorus, calcium and potassium, and is low in sodium.

It stands out for its content in vitamins and organic acids: beta-carotene, vitamin C, folic acid, citric, salicylic, malic, tartaric acids and especially vitamin E.

A 200 g serving of raspberries covers 75% of the daily needs of vitamin E, without providing fat, unlike other foods rich in this nutrient.

Although in smaller quantities, it provides group B vitamins, especially B2 and B6.

It also contains phytochemical substances with antioxidant power, such as ellagic acid, quercetin, cyanidin or anthocyanins.

They have very little sugar (5.8 mg/100 g), mostly fructose, so they are well tolerated by diabetics.

Health benefits of raspberries

The wealth of nutrients and plant chemical compounds explain their effects on the body.

• Faced with fatigue. Their nutritional richness makes them appropriate to consume in case of spring fatigue, while their high percentage of water makes them, taken raw, ideal for purifying cures.
• Detoxifying. Its organic acids and trace elements exert a detoxifying action, highly appreciated in people with rheumatism and gout, as well as for weight loss diets.
• Stimulates appetite. The raspberry, that berry with a dark reddish color and intense acidic flavor that we can savor in all its splendor during the summer, its best moment, is tonic and aperitif, that is, it stimulates the appetite.
• Reduces cholesterol. The fats present in its seeds, although scarce, are highly recommended. Together with its soluble fiber (pectin), its antioxidant compounds, such as vitamin E, and its low sodium content, they make raspberries a suitable food for the control of cholesterol, hypertension and cardiovascular disorders.
• Purifying fiber. Its soluble fiber helps improve intestinal transit. But it also exerts an inhibitory effect on substances potentially harmful to the body, such as cholesterol or bile acids.

What it does is bind to these compounds and drag them to be expelled with the feces, performing a purifying task. Due to its potassium and sodium content, and the good relationship between the two, it also exerts a diuretic effect.

People who suffer from kidney failure and follow low-potassium diets should moderate their consumption.

You can prepare the leaves as an infusion

If you have a raspberry plant, you can also take advantage of the leaves.

With raspberry leaves, which are rich in tannins, organic acids and flavonoids, infusions that have been traditionally used can be made. to relieve menstrual pain (You have to take it a few days before your period starts).

It is also effective to regulate intestinal transit (it has an astringent action, unlike the fruits), favor contractions during childbirth and in case of cystitis, oliguria and kidney stones.

You can also use it as mouthwash for inflamed gums, as well as to gargle in case of pharyngitis.

Raspberries in the kitchen

The relationship in the kitchen with this fruit must be careful and brief, since its delicacy does not withstand much work.

The ideal would be Do not wash it so as not to alter it too much, But there are those who choose to do it even if it comes from organic farming, does not touch the soil and is harvested by hand with great care.

We must know that its flavor will be diluted a little and the most ripe ones can deteriorate, if we do so.

Regarding cooking, heat does not benefit them or provide them with anything positive, at least in terms of nutritional value, color or flavor.

Heat destroys many of its most precious nutrients, such as vitamin E and other antioxidant substances. The color darkens and the flavor alters, losing complexity and freshness, meaning it is much better to taste them raw whenever possible.

Purchase and conservation

Raspberry is a very perishable product. It is normal that a few have to be thrown out of a tub.

When buying them you have to make sure that none are crushed, broken or moldy.

They must keep in the refrigerator and be consumed in a maximum of 3 or 4 days; Some varieties last longer, although they tend to be stiffer and harder.

If you are lucky enough to grow them at home, in addition to traditional jams, can be frozen in puree form or coulis and also whole.

They keep very well, but you have to be careful to consume them quickly once thawed.