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Dried fruit
Dried fruit is fruit from which the majority of the original water content has been removed prior to cooking or being eaten on its own. Drying may occur either naturally, by sun, through the use of industrial dehydrators, or by freeze drying. Dried fruit has a long tradition of use dating to the fourth millennium BC in Mesopotamia, and is valued for its sweet taste, nutritional content, and long shelf life.
In the 21st century, dried fruit consumption is widespread worldwide. Nearly half of dried fruits sold are raisins, followed by dates, prunes, figs, apricots, peaches, apples, and pears. These are referred to as "conventional" or "traditional" dried fruits: fruits that have been dried in the sun or in commercial dryers. Many fruits, such as cranberries, blueberries, cherries, strawberries, and mango are infused with a sweetener (e.g., sucrose syrup) prior to drying. Some products sold as dried fruit, like papaya, kiwifruit and pineapple, are most often candied fruit.
Traditional dried fruits such as raisins, figs, dates, apricots, and apples have been a staple of Mediterranean diets for millennia. This is due partly to their early cultivation in the Middle Eastern region known as the Fertile Crescent, made up of parts of modern Iran, Iraq, southwest Turkey, Syria, Lebanon, Palestine, and northern Egypt. Drying or dehydration was the earliest form of food preservation: figs, dates or grapes which fell from the plant and were sun-dried may have been consumed by early hunter-gatherers as edible and more long-lasting and sweeter.
The earliest recorded mention of dried fruits can be found in Mesopotamian tablets dating to about 1500 BC. These clay slabs, written in Akkadian, the daily language of Babylonia, were inscribed in cuneiform; these were about diets based on grains, vegetables, and fruits such as dates, figs, apples, pomegranates and grapes.[citation needed] These early civilizations used dates, date juice evaporated into syrup and raisins as sweeteners, and included dried fruits in their breads.[citation needed]
The date palm was one of the first cultivated trees. It was domesticated in Mesopotamia more than 5,000 years ago and grew abundantly in the Fertile Crescent. Dates were the cheapest of staple foods due to high productivity, as an average date palm produced 50 kilograms (110 lb) of fruit a year for more than 60 years.[citation needed]
Figs were also prized in early Mesopotamia, Palestine, Israel, and Egypt.[citation needed] In addition to appearing in wall paintings, many fig specimens were found in Egyptian tombs as funerary offerings.[citation needed]
Grape cultivation began in Armenia and the eastern regions of the Mediterranean in the 4th millennium BC.[citation needed] Raisins were produced by sun-drying grapes. Raisin production and viticulture spread across northern Africa, including Morocco and Tunisia.
Dried fruits spread through Greece to Italy where they became a major part of diets.[citation needed] Ancient Romans consumed raisins in large quantities and at all levels of society, including them as a key part of their common meals, along with olives and fresh fruits.
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Dried fruit
Dried fruit is fruit from which the majority of the original water content has been removed prior to cooking or being eaten on its own. Drying may occur either naturally, by sun, through the use of industrial dehydrators, or by freeze drying. Dried fruit has a long tradition of use dating to the fourth millennium BC in Mesopotamia, and is valued for its sweet taste, nutritional content, and long shelf life.
In the 21st century, dried fruit consumption is widespread worldwide. Nearly half of dried fruits sold are raisins, followed by dates, prunes, figs, apricots, peaches, apples, and pears. These are referred to as "conventional" or "traditional" dried fruits: fruits that have been dried in the sun or in commercial dryers. Many fruits, such as cranberries, blueberries, cherries, strawberries, and mango are infused with a sweetener (e.g., sucrose syrup) prior to drying. Some products sold as dried fruit, like papaya, kiwifruit and pineapple, are most often candied fruit.
Traditional dried fruits such as raisins, figs, dates, apricots, and apples have been a staple of Mediterranean diets for millennia. This is due partly to their early cultivation in the Middle Eastern region known as the Fertile Crescent, made up of parts of modern Iran, Iraq, southwest Turkey, Syria, Lebanon, Palestine, and northern Egypt. Drying or dehydration was the earliest form of food preservation: figs, dates or grapes which fell from the plant and were sun-dried may have been consumed by early hunter-gatherers as edible and more long-lasting and sweeter.
The earliest recorded mention of dried fruits can be found in Mesopotamian tablets dating to about 1500 BC. These clay slabs, written in Akkadian, the daily language of Babylonia, were inscribed in cuneiform; these were about diets based on grains, vegetables, and fruits such as dates, figs, apples, pomegranates and grapes.[citation needed] These early civilizations used dates, date juice evaporated into syrup and raisins as sweeteners, and included dried fruits in their breads.[citation needed]
The date palm was one of the first cultivated trees. It was domesticated in Mesopotamia more than 5,000 years ago and grew abundantly in the Fertile Crescent. Dates were the cheapest of staple foods due to high productivity, as an average date palm produced 50 kilograms (110 lb) of fruit a year for more than 60 years.[citation needed]
Figs were also prized in early Mesopotamia, Palestine, Israel, and Egypt.[citation needed] In addition to appearing in wall paintings, many fig specimens were found in Egyptian tombs as funerary offerings.[citation needed]
Grape cultivation began in Armenia and the eastern regions of the Mediterranean in the 4th millennium BC.[citation needed] Raisins were produced by sun-drying grapes. Raisin production and viticulture spread across northern Africa, including Morocco and Tunisia.
Dried fruits spread through Greece to Italy where they became a major part of diets.[citation needed] Ancient Romans consumed raisins in large quantities and at all levels of society, including them as a key part of their common meals, along with olives and fresh fruits.