Grape

Grapes are the fruit of a woody grape vine. Grapes can be eaten
raw, or used for making wine, juice, and jelly/jam. Grapes come in Grape
different colours; red, purple, white, and green are some examples.
Today, grapes can be seedless, by using machines to pit the fruit.
Wild grapevines are often considered a nuisance weed, as they
cover other plants with their usually rather aggressive growth.

Raisins are the dried fruit of the grapevine, and the name actually
comes from the French word for "grape."

Since the early 21st century in the United States and other
countries, and the global functional food industry, there has been a
Wine Grape, Grape Tree
fast-growing recognition of red grapes for their popularity, nutrient
content and antioxidant qualities. This has given them commercial Scientific classification
status as a "superfruit".
Kingdom: Plantae
The leaves of the grapevine itself are considered edible (eatable). Division: Magnoliophyta
They are used to make dolmades.
Class: Magnoliopsida
Grapevines are used as food plants by the larvae of some
Order: Vitales
Lepidoptera species.
Family: Vitaceae
Genus: Vitis
Contents L.

Distribution
White grapes
Raisins, currants, and sultanas
References
Other websites

Distribution Grapevines

According to the "Food and Agriculture Organization" (FAO), almost 76,000 square kilometres of the world
is used to grow grapes. About 71% of grapes are used for wine. 27% are used as fresh fruit, and 2% are used
as dried fruit. A part of grape production goes to making grape juice to be used as a sweetener for fruits
canned "with no added sugar" and "100% natural". The area dedicated to vineyards is increasing by about 2%
per year.

The following list of top wine-producers shows the areas used to grow grapes for wine making, although of
course country size is a limiting factor, as well as the economic demand for their product.[1][2]

Spain – 11,750 km²

France – 8,640 km²
 Italy – 8,270 km²
Turkey – 8,120 km²
United States – 4,150 km²
Iran – 2,860 km²
Romania – 2,480 km²
Portugal – 2,160 km²
Argentina – 2,080 km²
Australia – 1,642 km²

Comparing diets among western countries, researchers have found that although the French usually eat more
animal fat than other countries, the number of cases of heart disease remains low in France.[3] Many scientists
think this is because the French drink more red wine than other countries. Something in the grape helps lower
the amount of cholesterol in the body. This helps prevent clogging of the arteries. Doctors do not recommend
drinking a lot of red wine, but three or four glasses a week is good and encouraged.

Grapes of all colors offer benefits. Red wine offers health benefits that are not found in white wine. This is
because many of the good nutrients are found in the skins of the grapes, and only red wine is fermented with
the skins.

White grapes
White grapes are derived from the green grape by evolution. Changes in two genes turn off creation of
anthocyanin. Anthocyanin is what makes red grapes the color green.[4]

Raisins, currants, and sultanas

A raisin is any dried grape. A currant is a dried Zante grape. The name is a corruption of the French raisin de
Corinthe (Corinth grape). A sultana was originally a raisin made from a specific type of grape of Turkish
origin. The word is now used for raisins made from common North American grapes and chemically treated to
resemble the traditional sultana.

Note that, while raisin is a French loanword, the word in French means the fresh fruit. Grappe (Where the
English word grape comes from) means the bunch (as in une grappe de raisin).

Note also that currant has also come to mean to the blackcurrant and redcurrant. These two berries completely
unrelated to grapes.

References
1. Organisation Internationale de la Vigne et du Vin (pdf) (http://news.reseau-concept.net/images/
oiv_uk/Client/Stat_2002_def2_EN.pdf)
2. Australian Wine and Brandy Corporation (https://www.awbc.com.au/winefacts/data/free.asp?su
bcatid=102)
3. [1] (http://www.virginia.edu/bmg/faculty/mayo/mayo.html)
4. Walker AR, Lee E, Bogs J, McDavid DA, Thomas MR, Robinson SP (2007). "White grapes
arose through the mutation of two similar and adjacent regulatory genes". Plant J. 49 (5): 772–
85. PMID 17316172 (https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/17316172).

Other websites
 Integrated Taxonomic Information System entry for Grape family (http://www.itis.usda.gov/servle
t/SingleRpt/SingleRpt?search_topic=TSN&search_value=28600)
How To Grow Grapes (http://www.makinggreatwine.com/growing_grapes.html) – Article on how
to grow grapes
Area under vine (pdf) (http://ec.europa.eu/agriculture/agrista/2004/table_en/4611.pdf)
Wild Grapes (http://www.fcps.k12.va.us/StratfordLandingES/Ecology/mpages/wild_grape.htm)
300 Grape Varieties for Wine (http://www.twis.info/grapes.php)
Wine Wiki (http://encyclowine.org/index.php/Main_Page)

Retrieved from "https://simple.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Grape&oldid=6742986"

This page was last changed on 9 December 2019, at 16:21.

Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License and the GFDL; additional terms may
apply. See Terms of Use for details.