History as old as mankind
Grapes (Vitis vinifera) are a climbing member of the Vitaceae family, growing to over 35m in deep, moist soil in southern and central Europe. The vine has five lobed leaves, a series of tendrils that anchor the stems with summer panicles of tiny green flowers resulting in the familiar bunches of purple or green fruit. The history of the vine is as old as mankind, and wine has been produced from the grape for thousands of years, but that is another subject and needs to be dealt with separately. According to Greek mythology the first vines were given to the satyr Ampelos by the god Dionysus.
The ancient Egyptians knew of the curative power of grapes and the Ebers papyrus refers to the leaves being used to treat eye diseases. Discorides records that unripe grapes may be used to cure sore throats, and biblical references to grapes can be traced to the time of Noah; the Romans venerated ancient vines. Lucian refers to an ancient story about a vineyard where the vine trunks terminated in the upper bodies of beautiful and desirable damsels whose hair was a tangle of vine leaves and their fingertips were grapes, but if any man tried to pluck them he was immediately transformed into a grapevine. Pliny writes of a vine that was 600 years old and there are some in Burgundy that are over 400 years old and still producing. There are estimated to be over 6,000 varieties of grape.
The leaves contain glucose, tartaric acid, potassium, quercetine, quercitrin, tannin, amidon, malic acid and oxalate of calcium. The fruit contains malic, citric, tartaric, racemic and tannic acid, and resveratol. The constituents of grapeseed include flavanoids, linoleic acid, procyandins and vitamin E.
Early herbalists used the essence of grape to treat fevers, cancers, cholera, nausea, internal haemorrhages and external bleeding, dysentery, inflammation of the eyes, piles, palpitations and failing urine. In the Middle Ages dried grapes were used to treat anaemia, smallpox, liver and kidney diseases and exhaustion. Until the early twentieth century the plant was recommended as a cure for neuralgia and insomnia.
Today, most medical experimentation is directed to the compounds found in the grape seed; the procyandins contain anti-oxidants that scarify free radicals which occur naturally in the human condition and lead to the ageing process and cause damage to the body’s cellular structure. The resveratol found in grape skin has similar properties and is also an anti-oxidant.
Grape seed extract has shown an ability to inhibit the growth of certain tumours and to reduce blood sugar levels as well as effect cholesterol levels and repair liver damage following chemotherapy. In a recent experiment conducted on three patients suffering from chronic pancreatitis, a painful inflammation of the pancreas, it was found that grape seed extract reduced the swelling and pain where all conventional methods failed.
The extract has been used successfully in cases of macular degeneration, heart disease and circulatory problems. An American physician, Joanna Brandt, wrote a book, The Grape Cure, in which she describes her battle against cancer by treating her condition with nothing but grapes.
Grape vines have been used for millennia to make baskets and fish traps and the fruit has been a source of dyes for fabrics and cosmetics in the Mediterranean region. The fruit is made into jellies and jams and the leaves form part of the traditional culinary dish, dolmades.
Next week Maidenhair
