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["Lon J. Rombough" <lonrom@hevanet.com>]

Title: Re: [NAFEX] In western China, a white grape's raisin d'être (The Christian Science Monitor)

There's most of the secret of the raisin right there.  If the grapes are dried slowly indoors, out of the sun, there is much less oxidation and browning of the fruit, which also keeps more of the flavor intact, as well as keeping them green and translucent.  Golden raisins sold in this country are dried in driers and exposed to burning sulfur (sulfur dioxide) which prevents them from oxidizing so they keep their green color, as well.  In that case, though, the sulfur changes the flavor noticeably.  I'd wager the "green pearl" raisins could be duplicated here if the grapes were dried slowly in the dark.  That's not cost-effective, though.  It works in China since they have a climate in the region where the grapes are grown that allows them to dry the grapes without artificial heat, and labor is cheap enough to have the people to maintain the large number of drying sheds needed.
> -Lon Rombough
Grapes, writing, consulting, my book, The Grape Grower, at http://www.bunchgrapes.com
Winner of the Garden Writers Association "Best Talent in Writing" award for 2003 

From: "Sam Brungardt" <sam739is@hotmail.com>
> Reply-To: North American Fruit Explorers <nafex@lists.ibiblio.org>
> Date: Fri, 26 Sep 2003 09:27:57 -0500
> To: limit250@hotmail.com, shooting_star_2002@hotmail.com, nafex@lists.ibiblio.org
> Subject: [NAFEX] In western China, a white grape's raisin d'être (The Christian Science Monitor)
Forty days after being plucked from the trellis and dried in adobe houses, the green-pearl raisin