The foods we eat have a deep and often surprising past…from almonds and apples to tea and rice, many foods that we consume today have histories that can be traced out of prehistoric Central Asia along the tracks of the Silk Road to kitchen in Europe, America, China and elsewhere in east Asia. The exchange of goods, ideas, cultural practice, and genes along these ancient routes extends back five thousand years…and organized trade along the Silk Road dates to at least Han Dynasty China in the second century BC. Balancing a broad array of archeological, botanical and historical evidence…
(Fruit from the sands… Robert N. Splenger). Lets start talking history and science of fruits…
Interesting topic! Can you give us an example of a fruit with an interesting history?
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Yes Charlie, lets talk about Grapes.
“The most important fruit in the Roman cornucopia, inseparable from classical culture, was the grape, a symbol of the Greek god Dionysus (and the Roman god Bacchus). The simultaneously somniferous and terpsichorean effects of grape wine were esteemed across the ancient world. Ancient Chinese, Persian, or Arabic texts in praise of wine abound. Strabo pointed out the great importance of wine in Persia and further noted its production in Mariana, in southern Central Asia.Herodotus too noted the significance of grape wine in Persia and among the Scythians. Both authors commented on the Persian custom of discussing the weightiest matters of business and politics while both parties were drunk: if they both still agreed to the decisions the next morning, then they would act on them.
“Grapes and grape products are among the world’s most important horticultural products and consequently are of major commercial interest. They are served as a fresh fruit, dried into raisins, preserved or canned in jellies and jams, and crushed for making juice or wine. According to the Food and Agriculture Organization (2010), grapes were grown on 7.43 million hectare and approximately 66.9 million tons were produced during 2009. Approximately 71% of the world’s grape production is used for wine, 27% as fresh fruit, and 2% as dried fruit (Wikipedia 2010). A portion of grape production goes to producing grape juice to be reconstituted for fruits canned “with no added sugar” and “100% natural.”
Reference.
Hand book of fruits and fruit processing, James Wu, Nirmal Sinha,
Fruit from the sand, Robert N Splenger
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“Hundred grams of grapes are going to give you 69 kcal of energy, along with carbohydrates, sugars, and plenty of vitamins, including the B complex vitamins, vitamin E, vitamins C, and vitamin K. Along with that, you get elements like magnesium, sodium, potassium, phosphorus, iron, zinc and manganese in grapes. So you can consider this to be a complete health food, to restore all the depleted minerals and vitamins in your body.”
“The grape belongs to the large group of fleshy fruits and is classified as a berry, which develops after fertilization of the ovary. Grape is a nonclimacteric fruit with a relatively low rate of physiological activity, based on the very small amounts of ethylene produced during its development and ripening on the vine.
General Composition of Grapes
Constituents Freshly Expressed Juice by Volume
Water (%) 70–80
Carbohydrate (%) 15–25
Dextrose (glucose) (%) 8–13
Levulose (fructose) (%) 7–12
Pentose (mg/L) 100–500
Pectin (mg/L) 100–1000
Inositol (mg/L) 200–800
Total organic acids (g/L) (tartaric, malic, citric, and tannins) 0.3–1.5
Nitrogenous compounds (g/L) 0.1–1.7
Proteins (g/L) 0.01–1.0
Amino acids (g/L) 0.17–1.1
Minerals (%) 0.3–0.6
Reference.
Handbook of fruits and vegetable flavors. Y.H. Hui
The magic of grapes to cure and Heal. Dueep J Singh
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