ARS | Publication request: THE GRAPE

Submitted to: Encyclopedia of Fruits and Nuts
Publication Type: Book / Chapter
Publication Acceptance Date: September 5, 2003
Publication Date: September 15, 2007
Citation: Cousins, P.S. 2007. The grape. Encyclopedia of Fruits and Nuts.

Technical Abstract: Grape is one of the most important fruit crops in the temperate zone. The most important use is for wine, with substantial additional production acreage and tonnage in fresh dessert (table) and dried fruit (raisin) categories. A smaller fraction is used for unfermented juice production. France is the largest wine producer, with substantial production in Spain, Italy, the United States, Argentina, and Australia. Important table grape producers are the United States, Chile, and Australia. The United States, Turkey, and Australia lead in the production of raisins. The grape is a member of the Vitaceae (grape family). The genus Vitis includes approximately eighty species. The most important cultivars by acreage in wine, table, and raisin sectors belong to the species Vitis vinifera. This species is native to western Asia, including the Black Sea basin, northern Africa, and central and southern Europe. Unfermented juice is produced in the United States, Canada, and Brazil from hybrids derived from V. labrusca, a species native to eastern North America. Minor production of Vitis rotundifolia cultivars (muscadines) occurs in the southeastern United States. Grapes are produced on deciduous indeterminate vines. Annual dormant season pruning is required to manage growth in a vineyard production setting. Tropical and subtropical production of temperate zone adapted cultivars requires modified pruning regimes or treatment with plant growth regulators to stimulate budbreak. The vast majority of grape cultivars are perfect flowered, although wild grapes display nearly exclusive dioecy and a few pistillate table grape cultivars are still in cultivation. The grape flower is hypogynous, with five petals. Cultivars probably are mostly self pollinated, although muscadines may require insect pollinators.