Interesting Facts About Grapes

Grapes are a favourite fruit around the world. Grapes are berries derived from woody, deciduous vines of the Vitis genus. Grapes may be consumed raw or utilized to make juice, jam, wine, vinegar, raisins, grape seed oil and grape seed extract. Grapes occur in clusters and are usually added to fruit baskets for great value.

Here are some interesting facts about grapes, which are not common knowledge:

• Cultivation of common type of grapes started 6000 to 8000 years ago in the near East.
• The skin of grapes contains yeast, which helps in making of alcoholic drinks like wine.
• The oldest winery was discovered in Armenia, going back to 4000 BC.
• Grapes grow in clusters from 300 to 15.
• They come in a range of colours from golden, white, yellow, black, dark blue, crimson, pink, green and orange.
• Most grapes are collected from cultivars of Vitis Vinifera, the grapevine native to Central Asia and Mediterranean.
• Around 70% of grapes are used to make wine, 27% for fresh consumption and remaining for dried fruit.
• Major distinction is between table grapes and wine grapes. Cultivars of table groups have large, seedless grapes. Wine grapes are very sweet and are small and seeded.
• Other types of grapes are raisins, currants and Sultanas.
• Grape juice is made into vinegar, wine or brandy.
• Grapes were brought to America 300 years back by Spaniards.
• There are over 60 species and 8000 varieties of grapes.
• There are 100 calories in one cup of grapes, which provide over a quarter of daily required values of Vitamins C and K. Grape seeds are rich in antioxidants.
• For making a bottle of wine, around 2.5 pounds of grapes in basket of fruit is needed.
• Raisins are sweet but dried grapes. They are dried in sunlight.
• Studies show that two glasses of wine for men and 1 glass for women offer very good health benefits.
• The first Biblical reference to grapes was their cultivation by Noah.
• Grapes were also part of Greek and Roman lore, linked to their God of Agriculture.
• Wine is offered as part of the Eucharistic celebration of Catholics worldwide.
• Dried grapes contain only 15% water while raw grapes contain 80% water and make for a healthy snack.
• Grapes reduce chance of heart attack as it heightens the level of nitric acid in the blood which stops clotting of blood.
• Grapes are also good to control asthma, constipation, migraine, kidney disease, fatigue and indigestion.
• Grapes have less cholesterol, fat and sodium. But they are rich in Vitamins C and K as well as antioxidants.
• Grapes have very good laxative properties, especially raisins.
• On an average, 15,000 cups of wine can be made from grapes cultivated in one acre of land.
• 72 million tonnes of grapes are produced by grape industry, annually.
• Grape industry is also the biggest food based industry in the world.
• The region with highest concentration of wineries in the world is the Napa valley, California.

These are some fun facts about grapes, which are less known commonly.