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Better Grapes and Better Health

  • Advaita Organics
  • Apr 13, 2018
  • 4 min read

Updated: May 8, 2018


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Grapes are a very versatile variety of fruit as they are utilized in a wide range of foods. Starting from raisins, to jelly, to juice, to wine and often simply as a fruit or a part of a salad.


Nutritional Advantages

Grapes happen to have high amounts of antioxidants and phytonutrients that are good for the heart, namely resveratrol. The richest quality of these nutrients is present on the grape skin and the grape seeds. Raisins, which are dry grapes, no not contain as many nutrients, but they have high amounts of sugar. This happens as the process of dehydration end up condensing the sugars and calories and remove some of the nutrients. Over and above being very helpful for the heart, grapes have many additional health benefits. Grapes have preventive properties when it comes to Diabetes. Fiber content in grapes help in smoothing the process of digestion. Grapes are also rich in Vitamin K which help in gaining bone strength preventing breaks and fractures.

Along with all of this according to a 2009 review in the Journal of Nutrition, studies have shown that grapes and grape-based products are "excellent sources of various anticancer agents." Of particular note is grapes' possible ability to help prevent breast, colon and prostate cancers. Many studies have linked resveratrol to inhibiting breast cancer cell growth and spread, according to a 2008 Molecular Nutrition and Food Research article. However, it is also important to understand the possible ill effects of consuming grapes. Sharon Palmer, R.D., a dietitian and nutritionist from California and the author of The Plant-Powered Diet, said that some fruits and vegetables, especially those that are eaten with the outer skin on, tend to carry high degree of pesticide residue. Grapes, as we know, are particularly vulnerable to pest attacks and therefore get exposed to a number of pesticides in conventional agriculture.

Infections and Diseases

Grape vines are very susceptible to insects like moths, beetle, root borer and phylloxera. These can cause a variety of issues starting from defoliation to underdevelopment of shoots or malformation of the fruits. Fungal infections are equally common among grape vines, like downy mildew, powdery mildew, phomopsis, leaf spot, botrytis bunch rot and eutypa. These infections can occur without a warning, spread rapidly and lead to devastating results. Miticides also have to be used in order to protect the crops from different types of mites. Due to these dangers, grape vines are highly exposed to and affected by pesticides. More often than not the amount of chemicals being used is not judicial or well measured. There is no proper system to monitor the same. Therefore, these heavy doses of pesticides may have extremely strong effects especially among children, pregnant women, nursing women, the elderly and the agricultural workers themselves.

Newspaper articles, studies and doctors from all over the world are telling us that grapes can be bad for throat and it can cause infections. In addition to that, pesticide usage always has a big bunch of health issues that it comes with. However, organic cultivation has a different method of production which is safer and better for consumption.


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Preventive measures

More often than not with continuous cultivation the top soil gets depleted of the nutrients. The fertility of the soil keeps on deteriorating and that leads to fall in productivity. Soil swapping is a natural and effective way to solve this problem. The topsoil of the grape farm can be switched with the subsoil of another farmland where a different crop is grown. A concoction made by mixing top-soil and sub-soil with water is used to keep pest attacks at bay. The nutrient rich sub- soil dissolves in water and creates a thin layer on the surface of the leaves, blocking out respiration for these pests. Additionally, the nutrient-dense soil mixture cannot be digested by insects and therefore prevents their further growth. This method leads to improvement in quality and increase in production. Farmers use many organic and natural solutions for extensive problems. Employ sticky traps, insecticidal soap or neem-based sprays to limit harmful insects. Cover the vine with netting so that birds and other animals will not help themselves to ripening fruit. They even handpick pests and insects off the vine or remove diseased leaves and grape bunches.

“All grape diseases can be prevented in part with attentive trellising, pruning and mulching. In all areas, powdery mildew (evidenced by whitish patches on leaves) can weaken plants and reduce grape flavor. Preventive sprays with a 1-part-milk to 5-parts-water solution can minimize this problem.

In the Sun Belt, gardeners should choose varieties with resistance to Pierce’s Disease, common in warm-climate soils. Good choices include ‘Black Spanish,’ ‘Blanc du Bois’ and ‘Victoria Red.’

Grape leaves are among the favorite foods of Japanese beetles, and the fruits are a beloved snack of many wild birds. Early-season handpicking of beetles is essential to good control, and tulle netting can help protect plants from hungry birds”- Barbara Pleasant.


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Why Organic

In addition to health benefits that include healthy blood circulation, increased bile flow, healthy cholesterol level, relieved fatigue, stimulated metabolism, normal blood clotting, etc. amongst others, organically grown grapes have a distinct advantage over conventional grapes- higher antioxidant content and lower level of toxic metals and pesticides. Yes. How we farm does affect the quality of food we eat.

Natural cultivating leads to a very well-adjusted soil formation, which makes for healthy plants with flavorful organic fruits. Notwithstanding the flavor benefits, you can be guaranteed that the grapes have been developed and taken care of without tenacious chemicals. You can include them as an essential piece of your eating regimen, be it as crisp table fruits, juice, or in plates of mixed greens.


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To conclude all of it, it’s always a good idea to wash your fruits properly before eating them. You could even whip up a solution with 10 percent white vinegar and 90 percent water and soak your veggies and fruits in them. Stir them around and rinse thoroughly. Better yet, switch to organic!


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