The story of the Sunraysia region's world-renowned sultanas is steeped in so much published folklore that it's hard to sort fact from fiction.

Key points: For nearly 100 years, the Sunraysia region in northern Victoria has been famous for its five-crown golden sultanas

For nearly 100 years, the Sunraysia region in northern Victoria has been famous for its five-crown golden sultanas A special technique using cold-dipping is used to make them the best quality possible

A special technique using cold-dipping is used to make them the best quality possible But the person credited with inventing the technique has been lost in translation since the early 1920s

But now, after years of research, historians have unravelled the truth.

For nearly 100 years, the region in northern Victoria has been renowned for its five-crown golden sultanas.

However, doubt has lingered over who should be credited for the good fortunes of the famous "Sunraysia sultana".

Even the local council plaque commemorating the beginnings of local sultana production has it wrong.

The tale dates back to the early 1920s when local grape growers started using a new secret cold-dip formula to dry their sultanas, replacing the traditional hot-dip method.

The official plaque credits former banker and Greek translator Nickolaos Kolios for the formula.

Local Greek historian Paul Nicolias said the formula for the cold-dipping process was a revolutionary turning point for the Sunraysia dried fruit industry, enabling it to dominate the world's dried fruit market for a century.

But now it is being argued that Alex Zimaris should be credited for the formula after he worked on the many demonstrations undertaken by the ADFA (Australian Dried Fruit Association) from 1924.

Descendants of Mr Alex Zimaris who came to pick fruit in Mildura after deserting Turkish military service in the sultana growing area of Syrmna in Asia Minor. ( Supplied: Zimaris Family )

The official plaque wrongly commemorates a former banker and Greek translator Mr Nickolaos Kolios for the formula. ( Supplied: Paul Nicolias )

Mr Zimaris was one of four Greeks who came to pick fruit in Mildura after deserting Turkish military service in the sultana growing area of Smyrna in Asia Minor.

They found work in the irrigation colony and soldier settlement of Mildura in 1923 and 1924, picking grapes for Mildura dried fruit grower Les Mansell.

Sultanas highly sought after

It was at that time, that Mr Zimaris noticed the Aussies were not getting it right.

The growers were using a hot-dip method that only produced three-crown sultanas that were considered inferior to that of the golden Turkish Smyrna five-crown sultanas that were highly sought after in England and Europe.

The Australian hot-dip method for drying the grapes, using caustic soda, produced small dark sultanas with leathery skins.

Mr Zimaris and his fellow Greeks, who didn't speak English, demonstrated the cold-dip method to the ADFA growers in 1924 with the help of a translator named Nickolaos Kolios.

Mr Kolios was a highly educated man who was able to convey the process of Mr Zimari's cold-dip formula to ADFA's growers and acted as the spokesperson for the Greeks.

Greek refugees demonstrate the cold dip method to Sunraysia sultana growers. ( Supplied: Red Cliffs Historical Society )

Mr Kolios was also quoted in several published articles, leading many to believe that he was the person behind the cold-dip formula.

He also boasted in letters to his family in Greece that he was instrumental in leading the Greek syndicate to build a successful sultana farm.

The news of the game changing Greek method was also published in the local Sunraysia Daily newspaper in 1924 quoting the translator instead of Mr Zimaris, further confirming the historical confusion. ( Sunraysia Daily 1924 )

Sadly, due to his position as translator interpreting Mr Zimaris's practical demonstrations, Mr Kolios has been recorded as the man who changed the fortunes of the Sunraysia sultana in the official version of history.

It was this newspaper article that was also the source of the original confusion when it named the translator, Mr Kolios, as the expert of the cold-dip method misrepresenting this important historical event of the time for another 100 years.

Who was the first to use the cold-dip method?

The correct version of history is confirmed in the Journal of Agriculture published in December 1925, but it also raised another conundrum that the cold-dip method had already been trialled some 30 years earlier in 1898 by a Sunraysia grower Mr J.J. Keil, who bought the cold-dip formula from another Greek, John Zeroothakis Esq.

Unfortunately, the cold-dip method at this time was superseded by the hot-dip method that provided more rapid processing.

Old and new methods of drying currants and raisins, Mildura ( Supplied: John Young Collection )

Prior to this, Mildura's dried fruit growers were using a hot dip of caustic potash, that produced small dark sultanas with leathery skins. ( Supplied: Red Cliffs Historical Society )

By 1925 most of the ADFA growers were moving to the cold-dip method, and many WWI soldier-settler growers began using the cold-dip method from their very first harvest.

This dramatically changed the success of the entire local industry, especially for the returned soldiers and their families who could now compete on the international dried fruit market.

"Soldiers were able to enter the international market from their first harvest using the five-crown method, dramatically changing their financial circumstance for the better," historian Helen Petschel said.

"The soldiers, after working so hard to cut out a farm from the Mallee scrub in post-war life, were able to enjoy success from their very first harvest using the cold-dip method.

But the inconsistencies in the humble sultana's history do not end there.

So how did historians get it so wrong until now?

Historians Christine Cook and Helen Petschel from the Red Cliffs Historical Society, were able to confirm that the application of the cold-dip method was first recorded as being trialled in 1898, by Mr J.J. Keil.

Alex Zimaris's Greek recipe was the turning point for Sunraysia's sultana success, but history mistakenly credited the Greek translator Mr Nickolaos Kolios instead of Mr Alex Zimaris for the formula. ( ABC Mildura-Swan Hill: Deb O'Calligan )

However it wasn't until the 1920s when there was a real need for a change in the product that it was revisited.

Then it was Mr Zimaris and the Greek refugees who helped share this technique to the ADFA growers.

"Changing recorded history is a complicated task that may take several more years." Ms Petschel said.

Ms Cook said, "unfortunately, the correct history isn't always as interesting as the folklore".

They are attempting to correct the official history and have a new commemorative plaque installed at the Mildura Riverfront.

"I'd like to see the historical monument located at the riverfront changed to recognise Mr Alex Zimaris for changing the course of Sunraysia's history," Paul Nicolias said.