Description
A raisin is a dried grape. There are different types of raisins, varying per type of grape and per drying process, resulting in a great diversity of sizes and colours. In the United Kingdom, Ireland, New Zealand and Australia the word ‘raisin’ is exclusively used for the dark-coloured dried large grape, with ‘sultana’ being a golden-coloured dried grape and ‘currant’ a dried small Black Corinth grape.
In most of the world however it is common to refer to all of these varieties as raisins. Almost all raisins come from Sultana grape, is white or yellow seedless grape, which is actually green, also known as Thompson Seedless.
Raisins are produced and consumed all over the world and may be eaten raw as snacks, of mixed with nuts. Or they may be used in cooking, baking and brewing, confectionary, added to savoury dishes or salads.
Unlike fresh grapes, raisins are rich and concentrated sources of energy, vitamins, anti-oxidants, electrolytes and of minerals like calcium, iron, manganese, magnesium copper, fluoride, and zinc. In addition, they are rich in heart-healthy electrolyte, potassium. Raisins, however, contain fewer amounts of vitamin C, folic acid, carotenes, lutein and xanthine than fresh grapes.
A raisin is a dried grape. There are different types of raisins, varying per type of grape and per drying process, resulting in a great diversity of sizes and colours. In the United Kingdom, Ireland, New Zealand and Australia the word ‘raisin’ is exclusively used for the dark-coloured dried large grape, with ‘sultana’ being a golden-coloured dried grape and ‘currant’ a dried small Black Corinth grape.
In most of the world however it is common to refer to all of these varieties as raisins. Almost all raisins come from Sultana grape, is white or yellow seedless grape, which is actually green, also known as Thompson Seedless.
Raisins are produced and consumed all over the world and may be eaten raw as snacks, of mixed with nuts. Or they may be used in cooking, baking and brewing, confectionary, added to savoury dishes or salads.
Unlike fresh grapes, raisins are rich and concentrated sources of energy, vitamins, anti-oxidants, electrolytes and of minerals like calcium, iron, manganese, magnesium copper, fluoride, and zinc. In addition, they are rich in heart-healthy electrolyte, potassium. Raisins, however, contain fewer amounts of vitamin C, folic acid, carotenes, lutein and xanthine than fresh grapes.
Contact
If you would like to contact us please send an email to:
info@jmvandesandt.com
Varieties
Turkey, Greece, Iran:
- Sultana no. 8
- Sultana no. 9
- Sultana no. 10
Australia / South Africa:
- South African Blue Thompson
- South African Golden Bleached
- Australian Sultanas
Chile:
- Chili Golden Bleach
- Chili Blue Thompson
- Chili Flames
- Golden Jumbo 11-13 mm
- Extra Golden Jumbo 13 up mm
USA:
- Natural Thompson Seedless Select
- Natural Thompson Seedless Midgets
- Natural Thompson Seedless Tiny Midgets
- Jumbos
- Thompson Seedless Fancy Goldens
- Thompson Seedless Extra Choice Goldens
- Jumbo Fancy Goldens
- Jumbo Extra Choice Goldens
Processed
Raisins are produced commercially by drying harvested grapes. Generally, fresh grapes are dried in sunlight or by mechanical drying techniques. In some cases, the whole bunch of grapes may be vine-dried: allowed to dry on the vine itself. Ordinarily, their moisture content should not exceed 16% of dry weight.
Before being dried, grapes often receive a pre-treatment to increase the speed of water removal during the drying process. This decreases the rate of browning and so produces more desirable raisins. The actual drying might be done by either of three different methods: sun drying, shade drying and mechanical drying. Thoroughly dried raisins are then further stemmed, cap-stemmed, sorted, and cleaned in order to obtain high quality, dried berries. At the commercial level, raisins are processed and graded further before sent to the markets.
Nutrients
| Proximates | Units | |
| Energy | kcal | 296 |
| Protein | g | 2,52 |
| Carbohydrate | g | 78,47 |
| Fiber | g | 6,8 |
| Lipids | ||
| Total fat | g | 0,54 |
| Saturated fat | g | 0,178 |
| Monounsaturated fat | g | 0,022 |
| Polyunsaturated fat | g | 0,159 |
| Cholesterol | mg | 0 |
| Minerals | ||
| Calcium | mg | 28 |
| Iron | mg | 2,59 |
| Magnesium | mg | 30 |
| Phosphorus | mg | 75 |
| Potassium | mg | 825 |
| Sodium | mg | 28 |
| Zinc | mg | 0,18 |
| Vitamins | ||
| Vitamin A | IU | - |
| Vitamin B6 | mg | 0,188 |
| Vitamin C | mg | 5,4 |
| Thiamin | mg | 0,112 |
| Riboflavin | mg | 0,182 |
| Niacin | mg | 1,114 |
| Folate, DFE | mcg | 3 |
g = gram; mg = miligram ; mcg = microgram; IU = International Units
Origins
Raisins are produced in various regions of the world, among the most important in terms of production are Turkey, United States, China, Iran, Chile, Uzbekistan, South Africa, Afghanistan, Argentina and Australia.
Crop
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Northern | ||||||||||||
| Southern |