GRAPE POMARICO ( ITALY )

A grape is the non-climacteric fruit that grows on the perennial and deciduous woody vines of the genus Vitis. Grapes can be eaten raw or used for making jam, juice, jelly, vinegar, wine, grape seed extracts and grape seed oil.

Grapes grow in clusters of 6 to 300, and can be crimson, black, dark blue, yellow, green and pink. However, "white" grapes are actually green in color, and are evolutionarily derived from the red grape. Mutations in two regulatory genes of white grapes turn off production of anthocyanins which are responsible for the color of red grapes. Anthocyanins and other pigment chemicals of the larger family of polyphenols in red grapes are responsible for the varying shades of purple in red wines.

Most grapes come from cultivars of Vitis vinifera, the European grapevine native to the Mediterranean and Central Asia. Minor amounts of fruit and wine come from American and Asian species such as:
Vitis labrusca, the North American table and grape juice grapevines (including the concord cultivar), sometimes used for wine. Native to the Eastern United States and Canada.
Vitis riparia, a wild vine of North America, sometimes used for winemaking and for jam. Native to the entire Eastern U.S. and north to Quebec.
Vitis rotundifolia, the muscadines, used for jams and wine. Native to the Southeaster United States from Delaware to the Gulf of Mexico.
Vitis amurensis Most important Asian species.
The sea grape Coccoloba uvifera is actually a member of the Buckwheat family Polygonaceae and is native to the islands of the Caribbean Sea.

According to the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), 75,866 square kilometres of the world are dedicated to grapes. Approximately 71% of world grape production is used for wine, 27% as fresh fruit, and 2% as dried fruit. A portion of grape production goes to producing grape juice to be reconstituted for fruits canned "with no added sugar" and "100% natural". The area dedicated to vineyards is increasing by about 2% per year.
The following table of top wine-producers shows the corresponding areas dedicated to grapes for wine making:
Afghan grapes are the best quality grapes than any other country in the world.

Seedlessness is a highly desirable subjective quality in table grape selection, and seedless cultivars now make up the overwhelming majority of table grape plantings. Because grapevines are vegetatively propagated by cuttings, the lack of seeds does not present a problem for reproduction. It is, however, an issue for breeders, who must either use a seeded variety as the female parent or rescue embryos early in development using tissue culture techniques.
There are several sources of the seedlessness trait, and essentially all commercial cultivators get it from one of three sources: Thompson Seedless, Russian Seedless, and Black Monukka, all being cultivars of Vitis vinifera. Numerous seedless cultivars, such as Einset Seedless, Reliance and Venus, have been specifically cultivated for hardiness and quality in the relatively cold climates of north-eastern United States and southern Ontario. Bright green and elongated or round, the popular Sugraone grape offers a light, sweet flavor and distinctive crunch.
Contrary to the improved eating quality of seedlessness is the loss of potential health benefits provided by the enriched phytochemical content of grape seeds (see Health claims).

Pictures taken By Spera Gerardo at Pomarico (Italy), text by:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grape