Grapes offer health benefits, primarily due to their high nutrient and antioxidant content. They may benefit the eye, heart, bones, and more.
People have cultivated grapes for thousands of years, including several ancient civilizations that revered them for their use in winemaking. Grapes also make a quick and delicious snack you can enjoy at home or on the go.
You may find them in various colors, including green, red, black, yellow, and pink. They come in multiple forms, too, from raisins to jellies to juice. Seeded and seedless varieties also exist.
Grapes offer a wealth of health benefits, primarily due to their high nutrient and antioxidant contents.
Suitable varieties for different grape growing regions
| Region | Varieties |
| Maharashtra, Northern Karnataka and Hyderabad | Thompson Seedless and its mutants like Tas – A – Ganesh, Sonaka and Manik Chaman and A 17/3 found promising, however, yet to be released; colored seedless varieties like Fantasy Seedless, Sharad Seedless and Crimson Seedless; seeded varieties like Red Globe (found promising but yet to be recommended). |
| South Interior Karnataka | Thompson Seedless, Sonaka, Flame Seedless, Sharad Seedless, Crimson Seedless and Red Globe |
| Tamil Nadu | Thompson Seedless (for Table Purpose), Gulabi, Bangalore Blue (Juice purpose) |
| North India | Flame Seedless, Perlette and Beauty Seedless |
Varieties Presently in Export
- Green Seedless : Thompson Seedless, Tas-A-Ganesh, Sonaka, A 17/3
- Coloured Seedless : Flame Seedless, Sharad Seedless, Fantasy Seedless
New Potential Varieties for Export
- Green Seeded: Italia
- Coloured Seeded: Red Globe
Raisin
In India, Thompson Seedless and its mutants viz. Sonaka, Tas-A-Ganesh. Manik Chaman are mainly used for raisin production although Arkavati grape found to be promising and earlier recommended by Indian Institute of Horticultural Research, Bangalore. NRC for Grapes, Pune have also come out with varieties viz. A 17-3, E 12/3, Mint Seedless, Superior Seedless, KR White, Manik Chaman, A 18-3 (Coloured seedless) and Cardinal (For Manukka) found promising for the production of raisin, but are yet to accept on commercial footing.
Wine
Commercially important:
- White Wine Varieties: Sauvignon Blanc, Chenin Blanc, Ugni Blanc, Chardony, Clairette found promising and being utilized by commercial wineries in the country.
- Red Wine Varieties: Cabernet Sauvignon , Shiraz, Merlot, Zinfendel, Pinot Noir
- Other Wine Varieties: Grenache, Convent Large Black, Carignane, Prince, Saperavi
Rootstocks
Rootstocks are being employed in Indian viticulture to overcome the adverse effects of salinity and drought and also to modify the scion physiology / morphology in terms of vigor, fruitfulness, bunches and berry characters etc. Of the available rootstock in the active Germplasm of the institute, promising ones are under evaluation for drought and salt tolerance. Dog ridge rootstock was known for its drought and salt tolerance in major grape growing regions of India and hence its compatibility with the promising varieties of grapes like Thompson Seedless and its mutants has been established. As a result it was most widely accepted rootstock in India. Of late, Dog ridge rootstock is posing few problems like uneven bud burst after pruning, less fruitfulness and increased deadwood in the cordons, which has been attributed to its more vigor inducing capacity to scions under heavy black cotton soils. The systematic evaluation of rootstocks revealed rootstocks of V. berlandierii × V. rupestris group like 110 R, 99 R, and 1103 P etc. as most drought and salt tolerant. Among these, rootstock 110 R is gaining popularity because of its increased fruitfulness, moderate vigor, restricted uptake of chlorides and increased water use efficiency under moisture stress conditions. Maximum accumulation of phenolic compounds was observed in Thompson Seedless grafted on these rootstocks, which may offer fair degree of resistance to major grape diseases like downy mildew and powdery mildew. The propagation techniques like concentration of IBA, planting media, season of planting etc has been standardized for multiplying rootstocks by hard wood cuttings. Similarly time and stage of in situ grafting, chip budding and green grafting have been standardized to raise rootstock vineyards. Advanced grafting techniques like bench-grafting using grafting machines needs to be standardized. Work on molecular characterization of rootstocks to identify drought and salt tolerant gene has to be initiated to develop suitable rootstock for Indian condition, which can well adapt to semi arid tropics of India where grape is grown under larger area.
If the soil characteristics are ideal without any salinity and alkalinity problems and if the quality of irrigation water is also good, it is not necessary always to employ rootstocks. It is evidence from few vineyards in some of the grape growing districts that own rooted vineyards are performing equally well under good cultural management conditions under good soil and water quality conditions even after 15-20 years of planting.
Some of the other research findings under rootstock projects are as follows:
- Thompson Seedless grafted on Dog ridge performed well during initial years of grafting. Due to high vigor inducing capacity of Dog ridge, uneven sprouting and more incidence of inverted bottleneck was observed after both the pruning, while uniform and quick sprouting was observed in 110 R. Increased fruitfulness, number of bunches and yield per vine was observed on 110 R rootstock.
- Tas-A-Ganesh grafted on 110 R recorded on maximum bud fruitfulness, yield and improved berry characteristics than on Dog ridge rootstock
- Highest water use efficiency at single leaf level was recorded in 110 R followed by 99 R, Dog ridge at 50 % moisture stress and least was in SO-4.
- Increased root to shoot length ratio was recorded in Dog ridge at 50 % moisture stress
- Rootstock 110 R restricted uptake of sodium and chloride, while Dog ridge and Salt creek were know to restrict the uptake of chloride only.
- Thompson Seedless grafted on 110 R rootstock recorded highest phenols, total flavonoids , flavonols ,and flavon – 3 – ols followed by those on 99R, 1103 P and Dog ridge. Incidence of powdery mildew was least in T. Seedless grafted on 110 R and highest in those grafted on St. George and own rooted vines
- Compatibility of Dog ridge and 110 R rootstocks with Tas-A- Ganesh and Thompson Seedless was well established through long-term field studies. Inverted bottleneck symptom at graft joint did not affect growth and yield of vines even after 9 –10 years after grafting and thus confirming their compatibility.
- Total phenolic content was least in Degrasette, St. George, Salt Creek and Vitis champinii while maximum was in 99 R, 1103 P, Dog ridge and 110R while moderate was in Teleki 5 A and B2 56
- Maximum proline, proteins and flavonoids was recorded in Berlandieri × Rupestris crosses followed by Vitis champinii group and least was in rupestris spp and riparia spp.
- Water use efficiency was maximum in Berlandieri and Rupestris crosses followed by other species like Champinii, Riparia and Rupestris.
Rootstocks suggested based on global data for different situation
| Sr. No. | Situation/problem | Rootstock |
| 1 | Water shortage | 1103 P, 140 RU, 110 R, 420 A, SO 4, 99 R, St. George, Dogridge |
| 2 | Soil EC more than 2 m mohs/cm and water EC more than 1 m mohs/cm | Ramsey, Dogridge, 140 RU, 99 R, 110 R. |
| 3 | Soil ESP more than 15 per cent and/or water SAR more than 8. | 140 RU, 1613, Ramsey, Dogridge. |
| 4 | Free calcium content of soil is more than 12% | 140 RU, SO 4, 420 A. |
| 5 | Chloride content of water is more than 4 meq/litre | Ramsey, Dogridge B, 140 RU. Teleki 5-C |
| 6 | Poor vigor of the variety without any soil/water problem | Dogridge, St. George, SO 4, 140 RU. |
| 7 | For increased nitrogen, potassium uptake. | Dogridge, St. George, 34 EM, Ramsey. |
| 8 | For increased bud break | 1613, B2-56 |