EVOLUTION, DESCRIPTION AND IMPORTANCE OF

GRAPES

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Botanical Name : Vitis viniferLinn. Family : Vitaceae

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Evolution

Grape is a crop closely associated with history of human civilization.

It is one of the most ancient plants, cultivated by man. Great age of this plant is confirmed by remnant leaves and

seeds discovered in deposits. Viticulture referring to grape culture is a very old art. References on this fruit and wine made out of it are seen in

Bible and other authentic literatures indicating extent of antiquity.

Egyptian literatures referring to viticulture date back to 5000-6000 years.

Middle Eastern and Mediterranean people were using grapes and wine even before the Christian era as evidenced by historical references. (Cont)..

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Wine from grapes was a beverage of aristocrats and upper class in ancient Europe.

Wine is symbolic of blood of life in several religions and grapes as such are symbolic of charity.

History of Indian viticulture shows a beginning by about 2600 years ago.

Mention is made in ancient Indian literature and medical treatises written during 400 BC to 650 AD.

Mention about grape growing in India can be seen in Sanskrit literature, viz., Arthashastra', 'Charak Samhita' and 'Sushruta'.

Reports indicate references of grape in India by various travelers, Ibn Batuta (1430 AD) and Thevenot. Commercial varieties were introduced in India by invaders of Iran and Afghanistan.

Muhammad Bin Tughlaq introduced 'Bhokri', 'Fakhri' and 'Sahebi' cultivars in 1338. Despite the long histony and wide genetic diversity, commercial cultivation of grapes in India had beginning only during early 20th century.

South Indian viticulture started only around 1940.

Botanists suggested two centres of origin for grapes. The American grapes, including Vitis labirusca, other species of

Euvitis and Muscadinia originated in North American region where the largest collection of native Vitis species occurs.

Vitis vinifera, the European grape originated primarily in Caucasus region between Caspian sea and Black sea).

Vitis vinifera has its secondary centre of origin in Northwestern Himalayas, South Europe and Western Asia.

Botanists could not find out any evidence to point out exact date of arrival of grape vine in the Himalayas or India.

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Grape culture first began in Asia Minor, from where it spread towards West and East/directions.

Spreading of wine grapes to Southern and Central Europe took place in a fast pace.

Simultaneously table and raisin grapes were introduced to countries of North Africa and Mediterranean countries.

(Cont)…

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Further spread of grape culture was towards Turkey, Iran, Pakistan and India.

Wine grapes were first introduced to California in 1690s. Table and raisin cultivars reached Europe only in 1850. W.

Thompson, a grower of Yuba City introduced a seedless table and raisin cultivar 'Thompson seedless' in 1872.

American grapes moved sporadically to Europe and Asia after discovery of sea route to America.

Vilis vinifeara was introduced to Philippines during 1958 from California.

Iran and Afghanisthan invaders introduced commercial varieties of grapes in India by about 1300 AD.

Christian Missionaries from France were responsible for introduction of grapes in South India during 1830s.

Based on grape production statistics, the top ten countries of the world are Italy, France, USA, Spain, China, Turkey, Iran, Argentina, Australia and Chile.

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PRESENT STATUS OF GRAPE CULTIVATION IN THE COUNTRY

Grape is grown under a variety of soil and climatic conditions in three distinct agro-climatic zones, namely,

Sub-tropical climatic regions ,

Hot tropical climatic regions and

Mild tropical climatic regions in India.

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Sub-tropical Region: This region covers the northwestern plains corresponding to

28° and 32° N latitude including Delhi; Meerut district of Uttar Pradesh; Hissar and Jind districts of Haryana; and Bhatinda, Ferozpur, Gurdaspur and Ludhiana districts of Punjab.

Vines undergo dormancy and bud break starts in the first week of March while the rains arrive in the first week of June, and therefore, only 90-95 days are available from the initiation of growth to harvest.

Consequently, ‘Perlette’ is the only early ripening variety grown in this region.

Rain damage is a problem with Thompson Seedless in this region.

Single pruning and a single harvest is the accepted practice here.

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Hot Tropical Region: • This region covers Nashik, Sangli, Solapur, Pune, Satara, Latur and

Osmanabad districts of Maharashtra; Hyderabad, Ranga Reddy, Mahbubnagar, Anantapur and Medak districts of Andhra Pradesh; and Bijapur, Bagalkot, Belgaum, Gulberga districts of northern Karnataka lying between 15° and 20° N latitude.

• This is the major viticulture region accounting for 70 percent of the area under grapes in the country.

• Vines do not undergo dormancy and double pruning and a single harvest is the general practice in this region.

• Maximum and minimum temperature is 42°C and 8°C, respectively. • The major problems in this region are soil and water salinity and drought.• Berry growth is impaired and in certain locations pink blush sometimes

develops on green berries due to temperatures that drop to a low of 8°C.• Thompson Seedless and its clones (Tas-A-Ganesh, Sonaka), Anab-e-Shahi,

Sharad Seedless and Flame Seedless are the varieties grown in this region.

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Mild Tropical Region:

An area covered by 10° and 15° N latitude including Bangalore and Kolar districts of Karnataka; Chittoor district of Andhra Pradesh and Coimbatore; and Madurai and Theni districts of Tamil Nadu fall in this region.

Maximum temperatures in a year seldom exceed 36°C, while the minimum is about 12°C.

Principal varieties are Bangalore Blue (Syn. Isabella), Anab-e-Shahi, Gulabi (Syn. Muscat Hamburg), and Bhokri.

Thompson Seedless is grown only with limited success. Except for Thompson Seedless, two crops are harvested in a year.

Vinifera varieties susceptible to mildew suffer losses due to unprecedented rains during flowering and fruit set in both hot and mild tropical regions.

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Area and production of different varieties of grapes in India is as follows:

Variety Area (ha) Production (t)Anab-e-Shahi (white, seeded)

3,000 135,000

Bangalore Blue Syn. Isabella (black, seeded)

4,500 180,000

Bhokri (white, seeded) 500 15,000Flame Seedless (red, seedless)

500 10,000

Gulabi Syn. Muscat Hamburg (purple, seeded)

1,000 30,000

Perlette (white, seedless) 1,500 60,000Sharad Seedless - A mutant of Kishmish Chorni (black, seedless)

1,000 20,000

Thomson Seedless and its mutants (white, seedless)

22,000 550,000

Total 34,000 1,000,000

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Approximately 85 percent of the total production, irrespective of the variety, is consumed fresh.

About 120,000 tonnes of Thompson Seedless and its mutants, namely, Tas-A-Ganesh, Sonaka and Manik Chaman are dried for raisins.

Some 20,000 tonnes of Bangalore Blue are crushed to make juice, and 10,000 tonnes of Bangalore Blue, Cabernet Sauvignon, Chenin Blanc, Chardonnay, Merlot, Pinot Noir and Uni Blanc are crushed to process into wine.

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Grapes in Tamil Nadu Grapes occupies fifth position amongst the fruit crops grown in

India, with a production of 1.08 MT from an area of 0.04 million ha.

In Tamil Nadu, grape is cultivated in an area of about 2,475 ha in the districts of Theni, Coimbatore, Dindigul, Dharmapuri, Tirunelveli, Madurai and Trichy.

Nearly 90 per cent of the grape growing area in Tamil Nadu is dominated by the cultivar Muscat (Syn: Muscat Hamburg, Panneer Dhiraksha, Gulabi).

The seedless cultivar ‘Thompson seedless’ is also grown to a lesser extent in Theni District.

A unique type of staggered pruning in the cultivar ‘Muscat’ is practiced in the Cumbum Valley of Theni District which together with the congenial climatic conditions prevailing in this tract favours harvesting of five crops in two years.

(Cont)..

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Cumbum Valley is a major centre for grape production with 4,000 small farmers producing over 90,000 tonnes of Muscat grapes, known locally as "Panneer Dhiraksha" and about 10,000 tonnes of Thomson Seedless grapes.

The unique feature here is that the grapes are harvested throughout the year, while in most grape growing centres elsewhere the season ends with summer.

Approximately, 85 percent of the total production of Tamil Nadu, irrespective of the variety is consumed afresh.

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Description Plant grows as a vine demanding some type of support for growth.

Root system is spreading and descending type. Feeder roots are confined up to 25 cm depth and up to 60 -120 cm

away from trunk. Trunk is a permanent stem of vine on which whole framework is

based. After pruning, succulent current season's growth arises from buds

called as 'shoots', which when become woody, mature and dormant are known as 'canes'.

Leaves of grape vine are cordate shaped and palmately lobed. Buds of vine may be of different types such as vegetative, bearing shoots only or floral bud bearing both shoots and cluster and may be either apical or axillary.

Tendrils of vine are shoots, which have common origin with clusters. Euvitis has bi-fid or forked tendrils and Muscadinia has unified ones. (Cont)..

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A grape vine has different types of shoots as follows:

New growth of current season – shoot

Past seasons mature shoot - cane

Side branch from shoot/ cane - lateral

Basal portion of cane left after pruning - spur

Spur intended to bear fruits - fruit spur

Canes cut back to one-two buds to induce vegetative growth - renewal spur

Main stem of plant - Trunk

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• Inflorescences in cultivated grapes are branched 'cymes', each branch ending in a terminal flower.

•Sometimes peduncle consists of un branched tendrils along with flowers.

• In general, flowers are hermaphrodite, though some of the wild grapes still possess male and female flowers on separate vines.

(Cont)…

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Varieties are grouped as self fertile, self-sterile and partly self-sterile, based on fertility status.

Stamens of self-fertile varieties are erect and those of self-sterile are reflexed.

Partial self-sterility is usually due to nature of pollen. Aborted pollen occurs in both sterile and fertile forms, but in

fertile forms, abundance of potent pollen is seen which results in successful pollination.

Pollen sterility in grapes can be artificially induced by applying maleic hydrazide (500-750ppm) to developing panicle to avoid emasculation in hybridization programmes.

Fruit is a berry showing variation in physical and chemical characters.

Colour of fruits range from greenish, purplish, reddish or bluish black.

Shape varies from ovoid to globose. Berries are sweet, sometimes acidic and seeded ones possess 2 - 4 seeds.

(Cont)…

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Composition and importance

Fruits are berries consisting of skin, pulp and seeds. Seedless varieties are also prevalent. Fruit skin accounts for 5 - 12 % and seeds 0 - 10 % of total fruit

weight on an average. Seeds are rich in tannins (5-8%) and oil (0-20%). Juice content of fruits depends on pulpiness of variety, stage of

ripeness, berry size, presence or absence of seeds and efficiency of extraction method used.

Grape is a refreshing fruit, rich in sugars, acids, minerals, vitamins and tannins.

Major constituents of fruits are carbohydrates (15%), minerals (0.2 0.6 %), organic acids (0.3-1.5 %), nitrogenous compounds (0.03 - 0.7 %), iron (0.003-0.0017%), calcium (0.004-0.025 %), potassium (0.15-0.25 %), vitamin A (1-80 microgram), vitamin B complex (391-636 mg/100g) and vitamin C (1-12.5 mg/100g)

(Cont)…

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Predominant sugar in grape berries is fructose followed by glucose and sucrose.

Vitis champini and V.doaniana are two species in which berries have more glucose than fructose.

Tartaric and malic acids constitute 90% or more of total acidity of fruits.

Ammonium cations, amino acids, hexose, amines, pep tides, proteins and nucleic acids constitute nitrogenous compounds in pulp.

vitamin B complex fraction of berries includes thiamine, riboflavin, pyridoxine, pantothenic acid, nicotinic acid, inositol, biotin and folic acid.

Grape berries contain oxidizing enzymes like polyphenol oxidase, phenolase, phosphatase, proteinase and sucrase, mainly seen in berry skin.

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Tannins are present in skin and seeds of berries, which influence palatability -of fruits and products.

They impart astringency to juice and wine, but also help to stabilize colour of wine.

Pigments are seen only in berry skins in general, the major ones being anthocyanidins (red, blue, purple and black).

Cyanidin, delphinidin, petunidin, peonidinand malvidin are the five anthocyanins identified.

Guercetrin, a flavone and its glycoside quercitron, a flavanol are yellow pigments seen in white and red grapes, oxidation of which imparts amber blush.

While ripening, grapes develop volatile compounds like methyl anthranilate, which give special aroma for them.

Vinifera varieties have specific Muscat aroma on ripening.

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Uses

Grapes are known for their medicinal values also. Historically 'grape therapy' was used to treat cancer. In 1996, scientists discovered the chemical constituent, resveratol

in grapes that shows anti - carcinogenic activity and it has been proved to inhibit tumors by stopping DNA damage and slowing cell transformation from normal to cancerous state which in turn slows tumor growth.

Resveraltol has anti - inflammatory properties and is very useful for colon cancer prevention and a wide variety of other tumors.

Red wine consumption is associated with lower LDL (bad cholesterol) and higher HDL (good cholesterol).

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REFERENCES

Sawant, S.D. and I.S. Sawant. 1999. Effect of essential oils in controlling post - harvest pathogens. Annual Report (1998-99) of National Research Centre for Grapes. pp. 35.

Somkuwar, R.G., S.D. Ramteke and S.D. Shikhamany. 1999. Effect of growth regulators on productivity and quality of grapes. Annual report (1998-99) of National Research Centre for Grapes, Pune. pp. 21.

Singh, P.V. 1999. Note on effect of thiourea on breaking of dormancy of grapevine buds. India, J. Hort. 56(4): 312 - 313.

Pramanick, P.K., V.P. Sharma, P.C. Jindal, S.K. Saxena and S.K. Singh. 2001. Effect of different bud-breaking chemicals for hastening maturity in Pusa Seedless grape (Vits vinifera L.). Indian J. Hort., 58(3): 232 - 238.

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1. Grapes botanically called as ______________ (Vitis vinifera)

2. Past seasons mature shoot a)Lateral b). Spur c). Cane

3. Spur intended to bear fruits are called as fruit spur (True/ False).

4. Predominant sugar in grape berries is ___________ a). Glucose b). Fructose c). Sucrose

5. Seeds are rich in tannins __________ and oil _________. (5-8%, 0-20%)

ASSESMENT: