Muscadine

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Muscadine
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Plantae Division: Magnoliophyta Class: Magnoliopsida Order: Vitales Family: Vitaceae Genus: Vitis Species: V. rotundifolia
Binomial name
Vitis rotundifolia

Muscadines (Vitis rotundifolia) are a grapevine species native to the present-day southeastern United States that has been extensively cultivated since the 16th Century. Its recognized range in the United States extends from Delaware south to Florida, and west to Missouri, Kansas, Oklahoma and Texas. They are well adapted to their native warm and humid climate; they need fewer chilling hours than better known varieties and they thrive on summer heat.

The muscadine berries range from bronze to dark purple to black in color when ripe. They have skin sufficiently tough that eating the raw fruit often involves biting a small hole in the skin to suck out the pulp inside. Muscadines are not only eaten fresh, but also are used in making wine, juice, and jelly.

Although sharing the genus Vitis with the other grapevine species, muscadines belong to a separate subgenus, Muscadinia (the other grapevine species belong to Euvitis), and some have suggested giving it standing as a genus of its own. Some taxonomists have also suggested splitting two additional species off from Vitis rotundifolia: Vitis munsoniana and Vitis popenoei. All have 40 chromosomes, rather than 38, are generally not cross-compatibile with other "Vitis" species, and most hybrids between the subgenera are sterile. A few, however, are at least moderately fertile, and have been used in breeding. The cultivar 'Southern Home', released by the University of Florida, contains both muscadine and Euvitis in its background.

Unlike most cultivated grapevines, many muscadine cultivars are pistillate, and require a pollenizer to set fruit. A few, however, such as 'Carlos' and 'Noble', are perfect-flowered, and will produce fruit with their own pollen. They may also serve as pollenizers for pistillate cultivars, as well.

Contents 1 Cultivars 2 Wine 3 Other Products 4 Resveratrol 5 Other nutrients 6 References 7 External links

[edit] Cultivars

Black Beauty, Carlos, Cowart, Fry, Granny Val, Ison, Jumbo, Nesbitt, Southern Home, Summit, Supreme.
Source: Growing Muscadine Grapes in Oklahoma

"There are hundreds of muscadine varieties growing in the southern states. These include bronze, black and red varieties and consist of common grapes and patented grapes."[1]

See also: Native North American Grapes Vitis Rotundifolia, Florida, Texas, West Virginia.

Crops can be started in 3-5 years. Commercial yields of 8-18 tons per acre are possible. "Muscadines grow best in fertile sandy loam and alluvial soils. They grow wild in well-drained bottom lands that aren't subject to extended drought or waterlogging... They're also resistant to pests and diseases, including Pierce's disease, which can wipe out other species of grapes. And muscadines are one of the grape species most resistant to phylloxera, an insect that can kill roots of grapevines... Relatively drought tolerant, the muscadine will have a long life in good sites... Muscadines grow best in areas where temperatures don't go below 0^oF."[2]

[edit] Wine

Muscadines have been used for making commercial fine wines and port wines dating back to the 16th Century in and around St. Augustine, Florida. Today, vineyards throughout the Southeast produce muscadine wines of various qualities. The typical muscadine wine is sweet because vintners traditionally add sugar during the winemaking process; the wine is often considered a dessert wine although some drier varieties exist. The term scuppernong refers to a large bronze type of muscadine originally grown in North Carolina; it is also used in making wine.

While not one of the most widely marketed varietals produced, the visibility of muscadine wine has benefited from the discovery that it appears to provide greater amounts of antioxidants than many better-known red wines. In particular, Muscadine wines (both red and white) contain over five times more resveratrol than ordinary red wines: more than 40 mg/L compared to between 0.2 and 5.8 mg/L.^[1][2]

Because grape vines synthesize resveratrol as a defense, it has been claimed in sales literature that the use of pesticides greatly reduces the grape's resveratrol content;^[3] however, scientific studies either find no correlation between pesticide use and resveratrol,^[4] or find that pesticide use has only a weak effect.^[5]

[edit] Other Products

Other traditional Southern US muscadine-derived food products are readily available: jelly, preserves, syrup, and sauce. The fresh grape is available in season, September and October.[3] The juice is available, white and colored. Raisins are used to make the wine (scuppernong), but are not generally available. Pomace/puree [4] and sauce[5] might be the most concentrated forms as a source of resveratrol.

Although muscadine-derived products are sold as source of resveratrol, they have become eclipsed by knotweed, a cheaper and more concentrated source. Often grape derivatives are included in supplements for the sake of appearance, with knotweed supplying the bulk of the resveratrol.[6]

[edit] Resveratrol

Resveratrol is produced by several plants, apparently for its antifungal properties. It is found in widely varying amounts in grapes (primarily the skins). Ordinary non-muscadine Red wine contains between 0.2 and 5.8 mg/L,^[2] depending on the grape variety, whilst white wine has much less - the reason being that red wine is fermented with the skins, allowing the wine to absorb the resveratrol, whereas white wine is fermented after the skin has been removed. Wines produced from muscadine grapes, however, both red and white, may contain more than 40 mg/L.^[6]

In grapes, resveratrol is found primarily in the skin and seeds. This is particularly true for muscadine grapes, whose skin and seeds have about one hundred times the concentration as the pulp.[7] The amount found in grape skins also varies with the grape cultivar, its geographic origin, and exposure to fungal infection. The amount of fermentation time a wine spends in contact with grape skins is an important determinant of its resveratrol content.[8]

"All of the muscadine table wines sampled had greater trans and cis resveratrol concentrations than any other wines sampled. The muscadine table wines varied between 9.2 and 31.9 mg/L cis resveratrol and between 4.9 and 13.4 mg/L trans resveratrol." [9]

Muscadine berries and seeds have substantial amounts of resveratrol. Concentrations for the berries without seeds range from 2.7 to 23.5 ppm (parts per million) dwt. Seeds contained between 24.5 and 62.2 ppm dwt resveratrol. (The high seed concentration of resveratrol could be significant during red wine making when the fermenting wine is in contact with the seed.) Muscadine pomace, the solids left after pressing, contained 18 to 84 ppm dwt. A puree made from the pomace with the seeds removed contained 10 to 62 ppm dwt. Muscadine wine was reported to have from 0.7 to 1.9 mg/L resveratrol for red wines and 0.3 to 0.9 mg/L resveratrol for white wine. (These values are somewhat low compared to other reported values for muscadine wines, but that might be due to measuring only the trans form and not including the cis isomer.) For juices, resveratrol was found in concentrations ranging from 2.6 to 12.8 mg/L. [10]

"One-half serving (2 fluid ounces) of unfiltered muscadine juice, one serving of muscadine jam, one medium muffin, or one-tenth serving of muscadine sauce contains about the same amount of resveratrol as 4 fluid ounces of red wine."[11]

[edit] Other nutrients

A Mississippi State University nutritionist reports that "a puree of muscadine skins and pulp is an excellent source of resveratrol, dietary fiber, and some essential minerals and is high in carbohydrates and low in fat and protein.... We found that powdered muscadine puree has more dietary fiber than oat or rice bran."[12]

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• California Rare Fruit Growers, Inc. article on MUSCADINE GRAPE
• United States Standards for Grades of Muscadine (Vitis rotundifolia) Grapes
• How to Make Homemade Muscadine or Scuppernong Jelly - Complete step-by-step photographs.
• The Tasty Muscadine: Grape of the South Recepies for freezing, cooking, Jelly, Syrup, Jam, Preserves, Sauce, and Bread.
• The Muscadine Experience: Adding Value to Enhance Profits 2004 - 80 page technical resource for growers and processors, University of Arkansas.
• Muscadine Grape Production Guide For North Carolina
• 2006 Southeast Regional Muscadine Grape Integrated Management Guide - pesticide use