Rubus idaeus

Common names: Red Raspberry, Raspbis, Hindberry, Bramble of Mount Ida, Bramblebush, Raspberry

Plant Description: Red Raspberry is believed to be indigenous to Europe and parts of Asia, but is also widely found in North America, Britain, Scandinavia, and Scotland. It grows naturally in woods and heaths and prefers temperate environments. Generally, Red Raspberry is grown for its delicious fruit. Red Raspberry is a deciduous bush with creeping perennial roots and erect, hairy or prickly, yellowish-green biennial stems. Its alternate pinnate leaves are shiny and green on top with a soft white feltlike underside. The leaves have three to seven serrate and ovate leaflets. Red Raspberry blooms around May to July with small, yellowish-white flowers located on auxiliary drooping racemes. The flowers have 5 petals, 5 sepals, and numerous stamen and ovaries. The fruit produced by the Red Raspberry is an aggregate that, when picked, separates from a conical receptacle leaving an empty shell. It is deep red and very sweet.

Medicinal Properties &Uses: Red Raspberry is a medicinal herb considered helpful in the treatment of frequent or excessive menstruation and other menstrual disorders. It is often used to ease labor and delivery, as well as to calm morning sickness and prevent miscarriage. Red Raspberry contains one of the highest number of volatile compounds of the more commonly eaten fruits. It contains benzaldehyde, ethyl acetate, limonene, and 2-phenylethanol, as well as a crystallizable fruit-sugar, a fragrant volatile oil, pectin, citric and malic acids, and mineral salts. It's leaves are high in tannins which gives it astringent qualities, niacin, manganese, and vitamin C. Due to the high manganese content, it is effective in glucose regulation. Red Raspberry is an effective treatment for diarrhea, nausea, colds, and flu. A decoction of Red Raspberry tea is used as a gargle for sore throats. It can also be used as a mouthwash for bleeding gums and cankers of the mouth. Red Raspberry is most well known for it's use during pregnancy to help alleviate the pain of labor and delivery. Due to its oxytocic properties, it can relax and tone uterine muscles. For thousands of years, midwives and Chinese herbalists have used Red Raspberry effectively. It has also demonstrated antigonadotropic activity, and may normalize blood sugar levels. Red Raspberry is thought to be antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, anti-diarrheal, daiphoretic, diuretic, antiseptic, and choleretic.

Dosage: 30-90 drops in water or juice, 2-3 times daily or as needed. Shake well before using.

Cautions & Interactions: Keep out of reach of children.

Efficacy Studies & Other Clinical Data:

What Research is Revealing About Red Raspberries

Red Raspberry Leaf in Pregnancy

Pregnancy and Parenting Naturally - Red Raspberry

Mother & Child Health - Can Red Raspberry Tea Help Ease Childbirth?

Raspberry leaf (Herbs of Choice)

Raspberry leaf tea, an infusion prepared from the dried leaves of Rubus idaeus L. or R. strigosus Michx. of the family Rosaceae, has a considerable

reputation as “a traditional remedy for painful and profuse menstruation and for use before and during confinement to make parturition easier and speedier.” Because of its astringent properties, it is also used to treat diarrhea, an application previously discussed in Chapter 3. The scientific

evidence supporting the effects of raspberry leaf on the uterus is scanty, and clinical evidence is even more so. However, a 1999 study reported a

positive influence on labor outcomes. Beckett and colleagues have carried out the most substantial pharmacological testing to date, using isolated tissues of guinea pigs and frogs.

They concluded that aqueous raspberry leaf extracts contain a number ofdifferent active constituents, the actions of which are mutually antagonistic,

including (1) a smooth muscle stimulant, (2) an anticholinesterase, and(3) a spasmolytic. The authors opined that it would be impossible to predict an overall clinical effect from observation of or studies with animals. There is also a difference in the effect of the herb on pregnant versus nonpregnant human uterine strips. It was without effect on the latter but promoted contraction of normal human uterine strips at ten to sixteen weeks of pregnancy.