Here are all the ways to choose grapes that the fruit shop owner won’t tell you!

Now is the season when grapes are put on the market. The grapes on the fruit stalls are colorful, with different lengths and thicknesses of skin. How can you choose the grapes you like? What are the differences between different grape varieties? Today, let's talk about the issues related to grape selection in detail.

Grape selection principles and grape varieties

Let's first talk about the part that everyone is most concerned about, how to choose a bunch of sweet grapes. Generally speaking, the selection of grapes mainly depends on its maturity and freshness . You can follow the following four points:

These four principles can be applied to most types of grapes. However, if you are still worried about picking sour grapes after using these four methods, you can also muster up the courage to say to the fruit shop owner, "Boss, let me pick one first to taste."

After talking about the selection principles, let’s talk about the types of grapes.

There are many varieties of grapes on the market today, with different tastes and sweetness levels. Here is some information on some common grape varieties, including their trade names, origins, time to market, and characteristics, so you can choose according to your region and time.

1. Sunshine Rose Grape

Origin: Produced in all grape producing areas, with Yunnan being the main producing area. Time to market: March to July (Yunnan producing area), July to August (other producing areas).

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The skin and flesh of Sunshine Rose are not easy to separate. The fruit is still green when ripe, but has a pleasant rose aroma and a sugar content of more than 22. It has a crisp taste. Through special cultivation methods, it can also be made seedless and has an excellent taste.

2. Kyoho grapes

Origin: Produced in all grape producing areas. Time to market: July to September.

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Kyoho grapes have a standard grape shape and color. The spherical fruit turns purple-red when ripe. The flesh and skin of Kyoho grapes are easy to separate. The flesh is tender and juicy. The evergreen tree in the grape world defines the "grape taste on the tip of the tongue" for many friends. The sugar content can reach 18-20, and it is sweet and sour.

3. Muscat grapes

Origin: Beijing, Xinjiang and other wine producing areas

Time to market: August to September.

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The fruit is small, with a medium-thick skin, purple-red or dark purple. The sugar content is 18-20, the flesh is soft, juicy, and has a strong rose aroma. The only disadvantage is that the fruit is relatively small. The original main use was for winemaking, and it can also be used as a fresh grape.

4. Summer Black Grape

Origin: Produced in all grape producing areas, with a higher concentration in Yunnan. Time to market: March to June (Yunnan producing area), July to August (other producing areas).

Photo taken by: Shi Jun

The berries are medium-sized, not cracked, and not falling off. The dense berries are the advantages of Summer Black, and the product performance is excellent. The sugar content is 19-22, the flesh is crisp and hard, with some strawberry aroma, and it is the favorite of those who like sweet grapes and don't like to spit out the skin. It can also be used as a wine grape. Fully mature Summer Black grapes can be used to make rosé wine and brandy.

5. Goldfinger Grapes

Origin: Produced in all grape producing areas. Time to market: July to August, facility cultivation can be advanced to late March.

Photo taken by: Shi Jun

The fruit looks like a small pepper and remains light yellow-green when ripe. The sugar content can reach over 20, with a strong flavor of rock sugar and milk and a crisp taste.

6. Xinjiang Seedless White Grapes

Origin: Xinjiang. Time to market: July to September.

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A traditional raisin variety with a long history of cultivation in Xinjiang, my country. The fruit is small, oblong, and pale yellow-green when ripe. The sugar content can reach over 21, which is extremely sweet. The flesh is crisp and slightly astringent.

7. Hutai No. 8 Grape

Origin: Shaanxi. Time to market: August.

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A hybrid of European grapes and American grapes, it was bred by the Xi'an Grape Research Institute through Olympia bud mutation. A single grape is almost a small ping-pong ball, with large, nearly round berries, sweet and sour, and thick fruit powder. The skin is medium-thick, and the skin and flesh are easy to separate. The flesh is fine and crisp, especially suitable for those who spit out the skin when eating grapes.

8. Finger Grapes

Origin: Produced in all grape producing areas. Time to market: August to September.

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The fruit is cylindrical and dark blue-purple in color. The sugar content is above 19, the peel is thin, the flesh is crisp and hard, and there is no seed. It is an excellent fresh food variety.

9. Queen Nina Grapes

Origin: Yunnan. Time to market: August to September.

Photo taken by: Shi Jun

A newly cultivated red European and American hybrid with large kernels. The kernels are large and bright red, like rubies. The sugar content can reach over 23, with a strong aroma of strawberry and milk, and the flesh is crisp and tender.

It is worth noting that most grapes are on the market between July and September. Friends who like to eat grapes should take action after reading this!

Well, after talking about the tips for selecting grapes and the types of commercial grapes, let's talk about where these various grapes come from. (Friends who can't wait can go buy grapes now, and remember to share the tips with your family and friends!)

Where do the various grapes come from?

Today's table grapes come from two populations, the Eurasian and the American .

1. Eurasian population

Most of the grapes we usually refer to come from the Eurasian population, which is native to the Eurasian continent and includes one species, Vitis vinifera, and more than 5,000 subspecies. Compared with other grape varieties, Vitis vinifera has good fruit quality and pure flavor, and is the main variety used for daily consumption, raisin production and winemaking.

Records of the cultivation of Eurasian grapes date back to 6000 BC. In 4000 BC, Eurasian populations of grape cultivation spread from the southern Caucasus region to Asia Minor and into the Nile Delta through the Fertile Crescent. In the 6th century BC, the Greeks passed on grape cultivation and winemaking techniques to the Gauls. Subsequently, the Romans promoted vineyards throughout Gaul in an explosive manner.

2. American population

The American population includes 28 grape species, among which the more valuable ones are American grapes, riverbank grapes and sandy grapes. Among them, the sweetness of American grapes is not high, and the wine brewed from them also has a musky flavor. Although the flavor is not very popular, American grapes are extremely resistant to disease, cold and humidity, so they were later brought back to their homeland in Europe by merchants, and they tried to cross them with Eurasian grapes to produce better quality offspring.

However, the phylloxera that parasitized the roots of American grapes almost completely closed down European vineyards. Facing phylloxera, Eurasian grapes had almost no chance of survival. Later, growers discovered that they could use the roots of American grapes as rootstocks and then graft Eurasian grapes onto them, which saved the Eurasian grapes. In addition to American grapes, riverbank grapes and sandy grapes also have very good disease and cold resistance, as well as very good phylloxera resistance, and are often used as rootstocks by agronomists. Today, agronomists have cultivated many hybrid grape varieties for people to enjoy.

3. Are raisins grapes?

Let's talk about the issue of "raisins" and "grapes" here. In fact, raisins are a type of grape. The reason why they are called "raisins" is that the taste and thickness of the skin of raisins are slightly different from those of grapes. The flesh of raisins is relatively crisp and the skin does not separate; while grapes have juicy and soft flesh and the skin is easy to separate. This is the characteristic that distinguishes "ordinary grapes" from "raisins"**. **

What is the white frost on grape skin?

This white frost is neither pesticide residue nor glucose, but wax on the grape skin . The main component of the wax on the surface of grapes is a substance called oleanolic acid, which accounts for 60% to 70% of the total weight of the white frost. In addition, the white frost also contains some alcohols and esters. These substances have one thing in common: they are insoluble in water, so those who want to wash off the white frost on grapes will often go crazy.

However, it doesn't matter if you can't wash off the white frost. Because oleanolic acid does not harm our health, we can safely swallow the grapes with white frost. In addition to grapes, the prunes that are now on the market, and the apples, blueberries and other fruits that we usually eat also have white frost. Many people think that these white frosts are pesticide residues or unclean things, but these white frosts are actually substances that fruits secrete normally to protect themselves. To learn more, click: "What is the white frost on the surface of fruits? Is it really pesticide residue? "Finally, remember to review the tips for selecting grapes. I hope everyone can eat delicious grapes!

Author: Shi Jun, PhD in Botany

Review丨Lv Pinghui, Fruit Tree Cultivation Researcher, Northwest Agriculture and Forestry University

Liu Guangyu Senior Engineer, Xishuangbanna Tropical Botanical Garden, Chinese Academy of Sciences