Raisins

(Russian, izium; from Turkic), sun-dried or shade-dried grapes. There are seedless raisins (such as sabza and sarga) and varieties with seeds (such as germian and vassarga). Some varieties (vassarga, germian, sabza) are scalded before drying with a boiling lime-alkali solution. Drying lasts from four to nine days. The average chemical composition of the dry matter of raisins is 79.5–87.5 percent sugar, 2.1–2.9 percent nitrogenous substances, 0.7–2.3 percent acids (from tartaric acid), 1.3 percent cellulose, and 2–2.9 percent ash. The moisture content is from 16 to 22 percent. In the USSR the production of raisins is concentrated in the Uzbek SSR, Tadzhik SSR, and Turkmen SSR. Raisins are often called currants. Raisins are prepared in the south of Europe and in South Africa, Australia, and elsewhere.