Raspberry Juice

Species Name: Rubus is the genus name, Rubus idaeus: red raspberry, Rubus strigosus: American red raspberry, etc.

Also Known As: red raspberry, black raspberry, raspberry, American Raspberry, Korean Raspberry, English Raspberry, Himalayan Raspberry, Australian Raspberry, etc.

The multitude of raspberry plant species are all found under the genus Rubus. Almost every country or continent has a variety or two of the plants. Raspberry fruit can be red, black, gold, or purple in color. It is important to note that the fruit will not ripen once picked, so be careful only to harvest raspberries that are fully ripened. Plump, firm berries that have good color and easily pull of the stem are ripe.

What is Raspberry Juice? Raspberry Juice is made from the cooked, mashed, and strained berries from the raspberry plant.

Fresh Raspberry Juice Recipe:

Until you are ready to make raspberry juice, keep the fruit unwashed and store in the refrigerator.

• To make the juice, rinse the berries and put in a cooking pot with equal amounts of water, for example one cup raspberries to each cup of water.
• Bring to full boil, then reduce heat and simmer. While the berries simmer mash with a potato masher to extract the juice. Cool on low heat for 10 minutes. Strain the mixture through cheesecloth into wide-mouth jar, squeezing the pulp to extract all the juice.
• If you want to sweeten the juice, pour strained liquid into a pan and add 1/4 cup superfine sugar to every cup of juice. Boil until sugar is completely melted.
• Raspberry Juice can be enjoyed alone, added to lemonade, or blended with other fruit juices like strawberry, lime, peach, or pineapple. Raspberry juice can also be added as flavoring to many herbal or plain iced teas. Raspberry juice can be stored in sealable freezer containers and frozen if not consumed immediately.

Home Remedies Using Raspberry Juice:

Benefits of Raspberry Juice:

As early as the first century BC, Greeks used raspberry roots and blossoms to make eye ointments, astringents, and teas for stomach and throat problems. By the 4th century, the Romans cultivated raspberries and began using them for medicinal purposes and for food.

Raspberry Juice is high in Vitamin C and contains powerful anti-oxidants known to retard the effects of aging, prevent cancer and may even reduce the risk of heart disease. They are also an excellent source of salicylic acid, a compound closely related to aspirin that may inhibit arteriosclerosis, or hardening of the arteries.

Raspberry juice also offers a good source of quercetin, a flavonol and anti-oxidant which has anti-carcinogenic properties and reduces the release of histamines, which may minimize allergic reactions.

Raspberry Juice benefits may include its use as an:

• Antispasmodic
• Astringent
• Alternative
• Stimulant
• Tonic

Fresh raspberry juice mixed with honey is an excellent medication to reduce fever. It is also known to promote healthy nails, bones, teeth, and skin.

Raspberry Juice and raspberry fruit has been the subject of several research studies. One such study stated that, “Berries contain a diverse range of phytochemicals with biological properties such as antioxidant, anticancer, anti-neurodegerative, and anti-inflammatory activities. In the current study, extracts of six popularly consumed berries-blackberry, black raspberry, blueberry, cranberry, red raspberry and strawberry-were evaluated for their phenolic constituents using high performance liquid chromatography with ultraviolet and electrospray ionization mass spectrometry detection.

The major classes of berry phenolics were anthocyanins, flavonols, flavanols, ellagitannins, gallotannins, proanthocyanidins, and phenolic acids. The berry extracts were evaluated for their ability to inhibit the growth of human oral, breast, colon, and prostate tumor cell lines at concentrations ranging from 25 to 200 g/mL. With increasing concentration of berry extract, increasing inhibition of cell proliferation in all of the cell lines were observed, with different degrees of potency between cell lines.”

Side Effects of Raspberry Juice:

There have been no clinical studies to assess Raspberry Juice side effects. Contaiminated fruit may cause side effects that manifest as gastrointestinal upset, vomiting, diarrhea and fever.

Since Raspberry Juice may produce an antibiotic activity and interact additively with clarithromycin, caution is advised when combining therapies. Please consult a qualified healthcare professional before using Raspberry Juice with clarithromycin.