As well as appearing in wall paintings, many specimens have been found in Egyptian tombs as funerary offerings. Harvesting grapes, many of which would be dried into raisins.įigs were also prized in early Mesopotamia, Palestine and Egypt where their daily use was probably greater than or equal to that of dates. They were valued by travelers for their energy and were recommended as stimulants against fatigue. Whether fresh, soft-dried or hard-dried, they helped to give character to meat dishes and grain pies. The villagers in Mesopotamia dried them and ate them as sweets. Because they were so valuable, they were well recorded in Assyrian and Babylonian monuments and temples. It grew abundantly in the Fertile Crescent and it was so productive (an average date palm produces 50 kg (100 lbs) of fruit a year for 60 years or more) that dates were the cheapest of staple foods. It was domesticated in Mesopotamia more than 5,000 years ago.
The date palm was one of the first cultivated trees. They included dried fruits in their breads for which they had more than 300 recipes, from simple barley bread for the workers to very elaborate, spiced cakes with honey for the palaces and temples. These early civilizations used dates, date juice evaporated into syrup and raisins as sweeteners. These clay slabs, written in Akkadian, the daily language of Babylonia, were inscribed in cuneiform and tell of diets based on grains (barley, millet, wheat), vegetables and fruits such as dates, figs, apples, pomegranates, and grapes. The earliest recorded mention of dried fruits can be found in Mesopotamian tablets dating to about 1500 BC, which contain what are probably the oldest known written recipes. The specific nutrient content of the different dried fruits reflects their fresh counterpart and the processing method. Some products sold as dried fruit, like papaya, kiwifruit and pineapple, are most often candied fruit.ĭried fruits retain most of the nutritional value of fresh fruits.
Many fruits such as cranberries, blueberries, cherries, strawberries, and mango are infused with a sweetener (e.g. These are referred to as "conventional" or "traditional" dried fruits: fruits that have been dried in the sun or in heated wind tunnel dryers. Nearly half of the dried fruits sold are raisins, followed by dates, prunes, figs, apricots, peaches, apples, and pears. Today, dried fruit consumption is spread. Dried fruit has a long tradition of use dating back to the fourth millennium BC in Mesopotamia, and is prized because of its sweet taste, nutritive value, and long shelf life. Preservation of fruit for sweeteners or snacksĭried fruit have most of the nutrition value of fresh fruitĭried fruit is fruit from which the majority of the original water content has been removed either naturally, through sun drying, or through the use of specialized dryers or dehydrators. Mediterranean, Mesopotamia, India, specifically south India