Dried grapes: useful properties, harm, caloric content and features

Dried grapes or raisins are popular not only in our country, but also abroad dry fruit. The product has incredible value. This is explained by the fact that after the berries of the grapes are dried, their useful qualities will multiply several times. Sweetness is enriched with vitamins, macro- and microelements, as well as amino acids. If you welcome a healthy lifestyle, then raisins should be included in your diet without fail. For the first time mention of such a meal is found in ancient Egyptian texts, which date back to 2000 BC. In Europe, raisins were imported by Phoenician merchants somewhere in the X-IX centuries BC. But there are theories according to which even cave people, having noticed on the vines the dried berries of grapes, began to eat them for food. And the ancient Israelis with the help of raisins paid debts and taxes, paying attention, therefore, to the value of this dried fruit.

Travel "grapes - raisins"

Dried grapes can be obtained in several ways. So, you can dry berries by a natural method, that is, in the sun. And this procedure is called oftobi. To get raisins, ripen bunches laid on the ground on special litter or suspended between the vines for two weeks. Often, in order for the process to pass a little faster, the fruits are lowered for a few seconds into a soda hot solution. As a result of blanching, a protective glossy coating is removed and the skin is damaged. Thus, in just four to five days, all moisture evaporates out of the product. The "raisins" cooked in the sun turn out to be a bit harsh, and therefore the soya, or shady drying, is considered a more gentle and natural method. This process is labor-consuming and lasting, and because of this, such dried berries are expensive and do not occur very often.

After shady or sunny drying in private farms dried grape is considered ready, and it is sent for sale to the markets. If you think that the same dried fruits are sold in supermarkets in multi-colored bags, you are deeply mistaken. For such raisins, another fate has been prepared: shriveled berries after a preliminary, not so long, processing fall into the plant. There they are washed, freed from stems and debris, sorted, additionally dried in ovens and only then packaged. Also, fruits can be treated with sulfur dioxide, sulfites or sorbic acid, which makes the dried grape more beautiful and extends its shelf life.

Caloric content and composition of raisins

Dried grapes have a very high calorie content. So, in a hundred grams of raisins there are from 250 to 300 kilocalories. As already mentioned above, dried grape berries are a storehouse of valuable substances. They have sugar in the amount of 79.5-87.5%, ash (2-2.9%) and nitrogenous substances, which contain 2.1-2.9%. Also dried fruits have a small amount of acids, fiber and a sufficient rate of moisture.

In addition, it is important to take into account the fact that the berry contains a large number of dietary fiber, useful carbohydrates and proteins. In small volumes, they contain acids of organic origin and fats.

In the suit there are vitamins such as A, B1 and B2, B5 and B6, C and PP. Also in it there is boron, iron, phosphorus, potassium, calcium and magnesium.

Useful features

Dried berries of grapes are extremely useful for the human body. Raisins help to fight high cholesterol. Since it has a lot of boron, it is considered an excellent means for preventing diseases of the nervous system. Boron, and accordingly dried grape, strengthens memory and improves coordination. Contained in dried fruit potassium prevents heart rhythm disturbances. This element helps to excrete excess sodium in the urine.

Raisins guarantee optimum mineralization of bone tissue, as well as its increased strength. A high percentage of fiber in dried grapes promotes a regular stool, so that the intestines are released from toxins. This is an excellent prevention of bowel cancer. A unique feature of raisins can be considered that, in spite of the fact that it is enriched with sugar, the fiber contained in the product helps strengthen the gums, promotes mechanical cleaning of the enamel of the teeth, and bactericidal combinations fight against the multiplication of microorganisms.

Harmful qualities

Individuals with excessive weight, enterocolitis, heart failure, diabetes mellitus and active form of tuberculosis should not use dried fruit. Also, the harm of the product is related to the features of its manufacture. Thus, raisins, and especially dried grapes with white berries, are often treated with sulfur dioxide during production, which, when used, can cause asthma or provoke allergic reactions.

Many companies in order to improve the taste of the product, add sugar to it when drying. In connection with this, the caloric content and glycemic index of dried berries are increased.

Varieties of raisins

Experts distinguish several types of raisins:

• Normal - this is the most common variety, which is a dried white grape of medium size with one stone.
• Sabza (kishmish) is a light, fine dried fruit, made from white grapes that do not contain pits.
• Stone - large - the length of raisins reaches 2.5 centimeters. Each berry has two or three large bones.
• Corinch is a very dark, slightly dry raisins, without a stone.

Sushi grapes at home

You can even make dried grapes at home . Harvesting for the winter does not require much effort. So, first you need to carefully sort out the ripe bunches, removing from them the unripe and damaged fruits. Then the berries should be thoroughly washed, folded in a colander and problanshirovat two or three seconds in a special solution at a temperature of 95-97 degrees. This should be a solution of baking soda, for the preparation of which, in a liter of water, dissolve five to eight grams of soda. After blanching, immediately rinse the product with running water or immerse it in cold water.

Then the grapes are sent to the oven, where it will be dried at a temperature of 65-75 degrees. The dried raisins are aired, for two or three days they are kept in a box, and then they are placed in cans and sealed.

Raisins in cooking

What is called dried grapes is known even to a child. This, of course, raisins. And he found his widest application in cooking. Add it to baked goods, puddings, salads and cakes. It is used for stuffing meat, cooking kvass and compotes. In Central Asia, this product is in special esteem. Here, it is an indispensable ingredient for pilaf, meat salad, tolli and lobio. Also, raisins are mixed with other types of dried fruits and eat instead of sweets and chocolate.