Raspberries are the edible fruit of a plant species in the rose family.
There are many types of raspberries — including black, purple and golden — but the red raspberry, or Rubus idaeus, is the most common.
Red raspberries are native to Europe and northern Asia and cultivated in temperate areas worldwide. Most US raspberries are grown in California, Washington and Oregon.
These sweet, tart berries have a short shelf life and are harvested only during the summer and fall months. For these reasons, raspberries are best eaten shortly after purchasing.
- Calories: 64
- Carbs: 14.7 grams
- Fiber: 8 grams
- Protein: 1.5 grams
- Fat: 0.8 grams
- Vitamin C: 54% of the Reference Daily Intake (RDI)
- Manganese: 41% of the RDI
- Vitamin K: 12% of the RDI
- Vitamin E: 5% of the RDI
- B vitamins: 4–6% of the RDI
- Iron: 5% of the RDI
- Magnesium: 7% of the RDI
- Phosphorus: 4% of the RDI
- Potassium: 5% of the RDI
- Copper: 6% of the RDI
Raspberries are a great source of fiber, packing 8 grams per 1-cup (123-gram) serving, or 32% and 21% of the RDI for women and men, respectively
They provide more than half of the RDI for vitamin C, a water-soluble nutrient essential for immune function and iron absorption .
Raspberries also contain small amounts of Vitamin A, thiamine, riboflavin, vitamin B6, calcium and zinc
Blue raspberry is a local name used in Prince Edward County, Ontario, Canada for the cultivar ‘Columbian’, a hybrid (purple raspberry) of R. strigosus and R. occidentalis.
Fruits from such plants are called golden raspberries or yellow raspberries; despite their similar appearance, they retain the distinctive flavor of their respective species (red or black). Most pale-fruited raspberries commercially sold in the eastern United States are derivatives of red raspberries. Yellow-fruited variants of the black raspberry are sometimes grown in home gardens.
Red raspberries have also been crossed with various species in other subgenera of the genus Rubus, resulting in a number of hybrids, the first of which was the loganberry. Later notable hybrids include boysenberry (a multi-generation hybrid), and tayberry. Hybridization between the familiar cultivated red raspberries and a few Asiatic species of Rubus has also been achieved.
