Vitus rotundifolia, the muscadine grape, is one of about 60 species of grapes vines (genus Vitus). The muscadine grape is native to the southeastern United States from Texas to Delaware, and along the Mississippi River to Missouri. Unlike most other grape species, it is adapted to warm, humid conditions and does especially well in Florida.
The muscadine grape was the first native grape species to be cultivated in North America.It has been used for commercial wine making since the 16th century in Florida, traditionally for fine wines, port, and dessert wines.The fruit is also used for jelly, preserves, syrup, juices, sauces and eaten fresh. There are hundreds of different cultivars.The first named variety, the Scuppernong, came from North Carolina, described in 1810 by Dr. Calvin Jones.
The wild muscadine vine, ancestor to cultivated varieties, grows abundantly in swamps, sandy ridges, open or forested areas.It likes sandy, well-drained, fertile soil.Twining itself along other plants or sprawling along the ground, it can grow up to 100 feet.In the winter it loses its leaves but at other times of year the roundness of its serrated leaves is a good way to distinguish it from other grape species. While other grape species climb using forked tendrils, the muscadine grape has simple, unforked tendrils.
The muscadine grape is a dioecious species, meaning that individual plants have either female or male flowers, not both.Insects and wind carry pollen from male flowers to pollinate female flowers. The small, greenish flowers occur in a dense, branching cluster (a panicle).The flowers produce sweet, thick-skinned fruit, in bunches of 3-40.The fruit have a long growing season, taking about 100 days from fertilization to mature fruit.They turn a dark purple color and reach about 0.5-1 inch (1-2.5 cm) in diameter when they ripen in late summer. Each contains up to five seeds.Cultivated varieties have fruits of diverse sugar content and colorations from bronze, pink, greenish, yellow, white, to almost black.
The thick pigmented skins and the seeds of muscadine grapes produce many phytochemicals (including antioxidant polyphenols) thought to have considerable potential health benefits, such as control of certain cancers.They are also a good source of dietary fiber.
Muscadine vines have fewer pests than many other grape species.Aphid outbreaks sometimes occur although they usually are contained by natural predators.The grape root borer (Vitacea polistiformis) can cause damage.This grapevine is also fairly disease resistant.Its main diseases are caused by several types of fungus, but are usually treatable.The fruit is eaten by many birds and mammals, and the plant is host to several butterfly and moth species.
Some consider V. rotundifolia, along with two other grape species, members of a separate subgenus (muscadinia).Species in muscadinia are limited to the American southeast and have notable morphological differences from others in Vitus, as well as a different number of chromosomes.
(Andersen et al. 2013; California Rare Fuit Growers 1997; Christman 2010; Conner 2010; Cook 2015; WIkipedia 2015)
Vitis rotundifolia, or muscadine,[1] is a grapevine species native to the southeastern and south-central United States.[2] The growth range extends from Florida to New Jersey coast, and west to eastern Texas and Oklahoma.[3] It has been extensively cultivated since the 16th century.[4] The plants are well-adapted to their native warm and humid climate; they need fewer chilling hours than better known varieties, and thrive in summer heat.
Muscadine berries may be bronze or dark purple or black when ripe.[5] Wild varieties may stay green through maturity. Muscadines are typically used in making artisan wines, juice, and jelly. They are rich sources of polyphenols.[6]
In a natural setting, muscadine provides wildlife habitat as shelter, browse, and food for many birds and animals.[2] It is also a larval host for the Nessus Sphinx Moth (Amphion floridensis) and the Mournful Sphinx Moth (Enyo lugubris).[7]
Although in the same genus Vitis with the other grapevine species, the muscadine species belongs to a separate subgenus, Muscadinia (all other grapevine species belong to subgenus Euvitis). Usually the species is divided into three varieties, Vitis rotundifolia Michx. var. rotundifolia (southeast USA), Vitis rotundifolia Michx. var. munsoniana (Florida), and Vitis rotundifolia Michx. var. popenoei (Central America).[8] Some taxonomists have suggested giving the muscadines standing as a genus of its own. It has then also suggested upgrading the varieties to species rank and so splitting two additional species off from Vitis rotundifolia, Vitis munsoniana and Vitis popenoei. All have 40 chromosomes, rather than 38, are generally not cross-compatible with Euvitis subgenus, and most hybrids between the subgenera are sterile. A few are moderately fertile, and have been used in breeding. A commercially available Euvitis × Muscadinia hybrid is the Southern Home cultivar.[9][2]
Although muscadines are hearty grapes with tough skin that protects them from many plant diseases, these grapes nonetheless appear to be susceptible to parasitic nematodes.[10]
There are about 152[11] muscadine cultivars grown in the Southern states.[12] These include bronze, black and red varieties and consist of common grapes and patented grapes.[13]
Unlike most cultivated grapevines, many muscadine cultivars are pistillate, requiring a pollenizer to set fruit. A few, such as 'Carlos' and 'Noble', are perfect-flowered, produce fruit with their own pollen, and may also pollinate pistillate cultivars.[12]
Muscadine grape cultivars may have low or inconsistent yields, small berries, flavor and thick skin unsuitable to consumer acceptance, and disease susceptibility.[2] Cultivars tend to be developed either for a limited fresh market or for winemaking.[2] For consumer acceptance, fresh market grapes need to be large, sweet, and with relatively thin skin, whereas those for wine, juice or jelly need high yields of high-sugar, color-stable berries.[2]
Fresh-market cultivars include Black Beauty, Carlos, Cowart, Flowers, Fry, Granny Val, Ison, James, Jumbo, Magnolia, Memory (first found on T.S. Memory's farm in 1868 in Whiteville, NC), Mish, Nesbitt, Noble, Scuppernong, Summit, Supreme, and Thomas.[2][13][14] Produced by the University of Florida, the cultivar, 'Southern Home', contains both subgenera Muscadinia and Euvitis (more precisely, V. rotundifolia × V. vinifera) in its background.[2][9]
Crops can be started in 3–5 years. Commercial yields of 20–45 tonnes per hectare (8–18 tons per acre) are possible. Muscadines grow best in fertile sandy loam and alluvial soils. They grow wild in well-drained bottom lands that are not subject to extended drought or waterlogging. They are also resistant to pests and diseases, including Pierce's disease, which can destroy other grape species. Muscadine is one of the grape species most resistant to Phylloxera, an insect that can kill roots of grapevines.[15]
Appellations producing Muscadine wines:[16]
100 grams of muscadine grapes contain the following nutrients according to the USDA:[15]
Consumer research indicates that the thick skins and variable in-season quality of fresh muscadine grapes are significant deterrents to retail acceptance.[17][13]
One report indicated that muscadine grapes contained high concentrations of resveratrol,[18] but subsequent studies have found no or little resveratrol in muscadine grapes.[6]
Other muscadine polyphenols include anthocyanins, tannins, and various flavonoids.[6][19][20]
The rank order of total phenolic content among muscadine components was found to be seeds higher than skins higher than leaves higher than pulp.[6]
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: uses authors parameter (link) {{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: uses authors parameter (link) Vitis rotundifolia, or muscadine, is a grapevine species native to the southeastern and south-central United States. The growth range extends from Florida to New Jersey coast, and west to eastern Texas and Oklahoma. It has been extensively cultivated since the 16th century. The plants are well-adapted to their native warm and humid climate; they need fewer chilling hours than better known varieties, and thrive in summer heat.
Muscadine berries may be bronze or dark purple or black when ripe. Wild varieties may stay green through maturity. Muscadines are typically used in making artisan wines, juice, and jelly. They are rich sources of polyphenols.
In a natural setting, muscadine provides wildlife habitat as shelter, browse, and food for many birds and animals. It is also a larval host for the Nessus Sphinx Moth (Amphion floridensis) and the Mournful Sphinx Moth (Enyo lugubris).
