Iranian golden raisins
Iranian golden raisins are the topic of the following article. Generally, the Muscat grape is the third most significant grape for raisin production. As you might know, these grapes are large and sweet and have some seeds. The Muscat grape was first produced in Alexandria, Egypt, and before the appearance of the Thompson grape, it was the major grape for making raisins. In 1851, they took it to America for the first time. Muscat grapes are juicy, green and have a pleasant taste; their skin is hard and as a result, the raisins obtained from them are large, soft and delicious. If they want to make this delicious fruit from these grapes, after drying, they must remove their seeds through a mechanical process. The biggest drawbacks of Muscat grapes are their graininess and difficult transportation.
Fiesta and Soltani’s grapes are two other types of grapes used to produce raisins. Fiesta is a seedless white grape with good taste. The main problem with these grapes is that it is difficult to pluck their tails. Sultani grapes are almost seedless, but the raisins obtained from these grapes are not very good compared to the other varieties mentioned, because they have less flesh, high acid and relatively hard small seeds.
Production Process Iranian golden raisins
There are four main methods of raisin production: natural methods, dewatering, continuous tray dryer, and tree drying. The most common method is the natural method, which will explain in detail. The main steps in the production of natural raisins include harvesting, processing, and packaging. Although a small portion of raisins is from mechanically and through dehydration of grapes, most of them are dried in a natural way and with the sun.
The first step to producing good raisin is to grow quality grapes in the vineyards. Grape growing requires full-time activity throughout the year and tasks such as pruning, watering, fertilizing and pest control must be done. Hand still does most of these jobs. Pruning involves cutting parts of the vine to control its growth pattern. The benefit of this work is to equalize the quality of grapes throughout the vineyard, making other cultivation tasks easier and reducing other costs.
Usually, the pruning time is from the middle of November to the beginning of March when the tree is sleeping. They mostly do irrigation during the summer because the tree is growing and the soil of the vineyard must have water all the time. Fertilization is not necessary for all vineyards. Some vines respond well to fertilizers containing nitrogen and zinc. They usually do fertilization in the growing season of the tree, i.e. summer.
