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Latin Name:	VITIS VINIFERA
Hindi Name:	DRAKSHA / ANGOOR /DRAKSA
English Name:	VITIS VINIFERA




Guna:	HEAVY (GURU), SNIGDHA(OILY)
Rasa:	SWEET (MADHURA),
Veerya:	COLD(SHEETA)
Vipak:	SWEET (MADHURA)
Actions:	NUTRITIVE TONIC, DEMULCENT, LAXATIVE


Dosha Reducing:	PITTA

Doses:	BASED ON APPETITE.
Parts Used:	FRUIT.
Habitat:	CULTIVATED IN MANY PARTS OF INDIA, ESPECIALLY IN THE NORTH- WEST.
Research On this Medicine
V. vinifera Linn.           COMMON GRAPE VINE, WINE-GRAPE,
EUROPEAN GRAPE
D.E.P., VI(4), 258; C.P., 1112; Fl. Br. Ind., I, 652.
HINDI --Angur, dakh;BENG.--Angurphal, drakhyaluta;GUJ.--Darakh,
draksha;MAR.--Draksha; TEL.--Draksha, gostanidraksha;
TAM.--Kodimundiri, gostanidraksha;KAN.- Angura, draksha;
MAL.--Mundiri, gostani;ORIYA-- Drakya, onguro, gostoni.
RAISINS--Kismis, kishmish, drakshai, sougi, manakka.
A large, deciduous climber, climbing by means of intermittent, leaf-
opposed, long, often bifid tendrils, cultivated in many parts of India.
Stems up to 35 m. long, but in cultivation usually much reduced by
pruning; leaves orbicular-cordate, 5-15 cm., more or less deeply,
palmately-3-, 5- or 7-lobed, irregularly toothed, glabrescent above,
often grey-tomentose beneath, thin, membranous; flowers green, in
large, leaf-opposed, rather dense, panicles (of cymes); the peduncle
sometimes bears an unbranched tendril below the flowers; berries very
variable in size, ovoid to globose, greenish, purplish or bluish black,
edible, generally sweet; seeds 2, pearshaped, with a discoidal tubercle
at the back.
V. vinifera is divided into two subspecies by most authors. The
spontaneous or sub-spontaneous form is distinguished as the subsp.
sylvestris(C.C. Gmel.) Hegi syn. V. sylvestrisC.C. Gmel., though many
of the cultivated forms of grapes in Europe may have been derived, at
least in part, from this subspecies. The subsp. sylvestris often occurs
along riverbanks and in damp forests in parts of South-West Asia and in
South and Central Europe, extending up to West Germany. It is
dioecious, with dimorphic foliage, and bears small, c. 6 mm. long,
ellipsoid, bluish black, acidic berries. The widely cultivated grape
vine is the subsp. vinifera Linn. syn. subsp. sativaHegi. Moreover,
some authors have suggested that other species of Vitis from the East
Mediterranean region, now extinct in the wild state, have also
contributed to the cultivated vine, but the evidence for this theory is
meagre. The delineation of various cultivated types of grapes has been
further complicated by the introduction during the past hundred years
or so of a number of native North American species and their hybrids
into Europe and many other grape-growing regions. The American forms
are more or less resistant to a very destructive parasitic aphid of
grape vine and are now almost exclusively used as stocks; the scions
grafted on these are chiefly the types or cultivars of V. vinifera
subsp. vinifera; sometimes hybrids between them and the American
species, or purely American species or their hybrids are used. The
American vines have also become locally naturalized in many parts of
Europe and elsewhere, especially around neglected or abandoned
vineyards. Some authors recognize a third subspecies of V. vinifera,
viz. subsp. caucasicaVavilov, occurring both in spontaneous and in
cultivated forms from the southern USSR and East Mediterranean region
through Iran up to Kashmir. Recently, the cultivated vinifera grapes
have been divided into three groups, principally on general
morphological characteristics and geographic distribution. The
occidentalis group includes the wine-grapes of western Europe with
small compact clusters and berries, considerable winter-hardiness of
the vine, etc.; the orientalis or eastern group are the large-clustered
table-grape types with thin skin and firm flesh, large and papery
leaves of light colour, and often showing tendencies towards
seedlessness and lack of winter-hardiness; and the pontica, an
intermediate group of Asia Minor and Eastern Europe. It is, however,
difficult to ascertain if the differences actually relate to places of
origin. It is more likely that they are the result of distribution (Fl.
Europaea, II, 246; Mansfeld, 265; Plant Breed. Abstr.,1968, 38, 880).
Origin and spread of cultivation--Grapes come to us out of the
abyss of antiquity. Their ancient origin and widespread popularity is
established by the archaeological finds of fossilized leaves, stem
pieces and seeds discovered from Miocene and Tertiary deposits of
continental Europe, England, Iceland and North America. The seeds
found in the remains of the Swiss lake-dwellings of the Bronze Age and
entombed with the mummies in Egypt closely resemble the seeds of,
perhaps, the most extensively cultivated species of today. Details of
grape and wine production are mentioned in the records of Egyptian
hieroglyphics, dating 2400 B.C. In Greece, grape-wine was a
common consumable liquor in the time of Homer (c. 700 B.C.). In the
Bible, a reference has been made to the vineyard planted by Noah. In
India, grapes have been mentioned along with many other plants by Charaka
and Sushruta in their early medical treatises in the first century A.D.,
though little information on their cultivation was available prior to the
Mohammedan conquest of the country.
More than 50 species of Vitis are known today. Of these, V. vinifera
is the most important and universally cultivated grape-vine. With only
a few exceptions, all modern grapes are direct or hybrid descendants of
this species. Cultivation of V. vinifera most probably began in Asia
Minor, in the region between and the south of the Black and Caspian
seas. Many naturalized or possibly wild forms are still known in this
area. From Asia Minor, the culture of grape spread both towards west
and east. While wine-grapes soon spread throughout the Southern and
Central Europe, almost at the same time the cultivation of raisin and
table grapes was spreading around the eastern end of the Mediterranean
Sea to the countries of North Africa. The lines of spread of wine types
differed from those of raisin and table types because of the
differences in the custom and religion between the people on the
northern and southern shores of the Mediterranean.
Almost coinciding with the westward extension of cultivation, it
moved eastwards through Turkey and Iran to Pakistan and India. Turkey
has specialized in the production of raisin grapes, which have acquired
enviable position in European markets. In Iran, grapes either in the
wild or cultivated state grow almost everywhere in the mountains
between the Persian Gulf and the Caspian Sea, so much so that some
authors regard this country as the place of origin of commercial grape-
growing. In Pakistan, some very good seedless types are grown in the
western province of Baluchistan. These were highly prized throughout
the former British India. With most of the grape-growing areas of
undivided India going to Pakistan, the grapes became scarce in India
and the prices rose very high. This gave much-needed fillip to grape
cultivation in the country, which has now spread to a number of states.
The bulk of production is consumed as fresh fruit, though in recent
years attempts have also been made to grow types, in restricted areas,
suitable for production of wine and raisins.
V. vinifera was taken to the New World by the early colonists, who
were accustomed to growing it in Europe. It was introduced into Mexico
by the Spanish in the beginning of the sixteenth century. In USA, the
earliest introduction of the wine-grape was in the eastern states
around A.D. 1616. However, since then, and in spite of many attempts,
it has never been successfully grown in the eastern parts of USA. But
the position is different west of the Rocky Mountains. There,
particularly in California, where the European grape was first
introduced about the year 1697, growing of grapes from pure V.
vinifera and its hybrids has become one of the chief industries. Some
of these Californian types and the hybrids between V. viniferaand the
American species of Vitis have been introduced in many grape-growing
regions of the world (Winkler, 1- 3, 51-52; Hill, 397-98; Schery, 456-
58; Marketing of Grapes in India, Marketing Ser.,No. 162, 1965, 1-2).
COMMERCIAL TYPES
Probably, more than 8000 types of grapes have been named and
described from different parts of the world. Out of these, only c. 20
per cent may be growing in vineyards, gardens, and variety-collection
centres, and the others are merely of historical or academic interest.
In India, though a large number of types have been introduced and
cultivated experimentally or otherwise to a greater or lesser extent at
different times and places, only a few of them are commercially
successful. Nursery-men and growers are often faced with the problem of
identification of types in the nursery, before they start bearing.
Recently, the distinguishing vegetative characters of c. 20 types at
the nursery-stage have been tabulated. The principal types, which are
either commercially grown in India or are promising are presented in
Table 1. (Winkler, 518; Mehrotra & Singh, Madras agric. J.,1972, 59,
363).
Besides these principal types, some other types are grown to a small
extent in various parts of India. These include Kandhari, Pandhari
Sahebi, Deccan Prince, Beauty Seedless, Khalili, Delight, Nimrod,
Italian Eliquina (Alphonse Layallee), Gros Colman, Bharat Early, etc.
Exotic types Kishmish Charni (USSR) and Pearl-de-Csaba (USA) have been
successfully grown in a private garden in Delhi. The rooted cuttings
were planted and they came to bearing in two years. The types with low
vigour, such as Beauty Seedless, Perlette, Cardinal and Black Muscat,
can be grown in pots; they also serve as ornamentals. The percentage of
area under grape cultivation in different states is given in Table 2
[Gandhi, Farm Bull.,No. 12, 1956, 6-10; Marketing of Grapes in India,
1965, 6-10; FAO Rep.,No. TA 2825, 1970, 27-30; Hayes, 337-38; Cheema
et al.,318-20; Naik, 1958, 40; Phadnis et al., Punjab hort. J.,1968,
8, 65; Narasingarao, Indian Hort.,1964- 65, 9(2), 24; Nath et al.,
ibid., 1970-71, 15(4), 3].
Breeding and Improvement of Types--Several types have been introduced
and experimentally tried in India during the last 30 years or so. A
beginning was made with the trials at Lyallpur (now in Pakistan), where
about 115 types were tried a few years before the partition of the
country, of these only a few were promising. Since then, the
introduction and experimental cultivation of several types have been
made at a number of collection centres, such as those at Abohar in
Haryana, Saharanpur, Lucknow and Kanpur in Uttar Pradesh, Lal-Bagh
Gardens at Bangalore, Hesaraghatta Station, Bangalore, and the
I.A.R.I., New Delhi. Recently, very good collections have also been
established at agricultural universities at Ludhiana in Punjab and at
Hissar in Haryana. Some American types were also tried in the hills in
Patiala c.25 years ago.
Only very few types have succeeded in India so far, and there has not
been much of organized breeding work. To use the limited resources to
the best advantage, it has been suggested that the collection of types
should be continued only at two centres: at the I.A.R.I., New Delhi,
for North India and at the Hesaraghatta Station, Bangalore for South India.
Many grape-growers in India presume that any type found satisfactory
for the table will also be well adapted to other uses, such as wine,
juice, etc. A diversification of types to fit specific uses and to
extend the marketing season is most important in India. Further,
organized and coordinated programmes should be undertaken to avoid, as
at present, an unusually long time taken between the introduction and
evaluation of new promising types at the experimental stations and
their release to growers for trials.
Valuable breeding work has been carried out at the I.A.R.I., New
Delhi since the early sixties. A few of the more promising types, such
as Hur, Bhokri, Bharat Early, Kandhari, Bangalore Blue,etc. were
crossed. Many seedlings from these crosses are now fruiting and
undergoing evaluation. Some breeding work and improvement of types by
selection has also been in progress at Poona. Recently, a breeding
programmo has been initiated at the I.A.R.I., using Angur Kalan, Bangui
Aybad, Bhokri, Hur, Selection 80(Pusa) as female parents and Beauty
Seedless, Perlette and Thompson Seedless as male parents. By
concentrating on these few crosses, enough seed has been obtained to
grow large progenies, which should provide a good analysis of the
breeding values of the types used [Phadnis & Schinde, Trop. Sci.,1969,
11,286; Cheema, Farm J.,1969, 10(7), 7].
Certain guidelines have recently been recommended for breeding work
and the evolution of improved types in India. Efforts should primarily
be concentrated on breeding for disease-resistance and high content of
sugar in the fruit. Early-maturing types are essential in North India
to escape the damaging monsoonal rains. Indigenous species and types of
Vitis in the Himalayas and north-eastern parts of India should be
tested in other areas and may be valuable for their desirable characters,
such as resistance to pests and diseases and as rootstocks in breeding
work. Besides, some of the native tropical types of the Caribbean as well
as V. vinifera x V. rotundifolia hybrids should be tested. For
Bangalore area and the zones of similar temperature, American hybrids
might be the useful donors of resistance to the diseases and pests.
________________________________________________________________________________________

TABLE 2- PERCENTAGE OF AREA UNDER DIFFERENT TYPES OF GRAPES IN
IMPORTANT GRAPE-GROWING STATES OF INDIA*

Type                  Andhra    Delhi     Haryana   Karnataka   Maharas-  Pubjab    Tamil
Pradesh                                   htra                Nadu

Anab-e-Shahi          93         6        14         3        35        10         4
Bangalore Blue        ..        ..        ..        91        ..        ..        10
Bhokri                ..         1         1         1        30        ..        40
Cheema-7               3         1         2         1        25         1        ..
Cheema-94             ..        ..        ..        ..         1        ..        ..
Kali Sahebi            1         1        ..        ..         1        ..        ..
Muscat Hamburg@        1        ..        ..         1         1        ..        44
Perlette              ..        84        78        ..        ..        82        ..
Thompson Seedless$     1         5         4         2         4        5         1
Others**               1         2         1         1         3        2         1

*FAO Rep.No. TA 2825, 1970,27.
@Also called Gulabi or Karachi Gulabi.
$Also called Australian Seedless, Pusa Seedless, Kishmish, Sultanina,
Bedana.
**Include Kandhari, Pandhari Sahebi, Deccan Prince, Beauty Seedless,
Delight, Nimrod, Italian Eliquina, etc.

_________________________________________________________________________________________
It has been possible to bud-graft superior types on hardy and
vigorous rootstocks, and grow them in areas where they do not survive
on their own. The winter season budding has been found to be superior
to the rainy-season budding, and is comparatively easier to perform.
Superior type of scion, Pearl-de-Csaba,has been grafted successfully
on the rootstock of the type Large White of Vitis labrusca Linn. Chip-
budding of Pusa Seedlesson Anab-e-Shahirootstock gave 65 per cent
success, whereas whip-grafting of Bangalore Bluegave only 25 per cent
success (Moti & Singh, Madras agric. J.,1969, 56, 141; Singh, Punjab
hort. J.,1965, 5, 84; Mukherjee & Singh, Indian J. Hort.,1968, 25,
140).
Mutation has played an important part in the evolution of grape
types, as a number of economic characters like hermaphrodite flowers,
seedlessness, larger berries, different fruit colour and flavour, are
thought to have evolved independently in a number of localities .
Effect of gamma-irradiation on unrooted, dormant cuttings and wet
stratified seeds has also been studied (Das & Mukherjee, Indian J.
Genet.,1968, 28, 347).
The diploid chromosome number of most of the V. vinifera varieties
is 38. There has also been increasing interest in tetraploid grapes.
The chief benefits from tetraploidy would be the increase in berry-size
and reduction in the bushiness of the vine due to fewer shoots. Both
these characters are useful in growing table-grapes. Autotetraploids
retain considerable sterility and are more unproductive than the
parents. However, allotetraploids, even between infertile species, have
been more desirable as commercial types [FAO Rep.,No. TA 2825, 1970,
30-39; Nauriyal et al., Punjab hort. J.,1967, 7, 34; Bammi, Indian J.
Hort., 1967, 24, 20; Randhawa et al., ibid.,1965, 22, 219; Mukherjee
& Nath, Indian Fmg, N.S.,1972, 21(12), 7].
CULTIVATION
The culture of viniferagrapes is extensive and most successful in
the warm-temperate regions of the Northern Hemisphere. Outside these
regions, they are grown only in scattered areas, and by adopting
suitable cultural practices some types have been successfully
cultivated even in the tropics.
Climate--A study of the climate of grape-growing tracts in different
parts of the world shows that as far as possible grapes must have a
warm and dry summer when the fruits ripen. Heavy and continuous rains
during the summer favour spread of the diseases and the cracking and
rotting of the fruit. Rains during flowering interfere with
pollination. The growth and ripening time should follow a good period
of rest during winter, when the vines are more or less completely
leafless. The winter-rains are helpful in moisture conservation and the
general well being of the vines. In the temperate zones, the vines
remain dormant during winter and can withstand considerable frost.
Severe winters, with temperatures below -17 to 18° are harmful to the
grapes,and the spring-frost during growth kills the shoots and
clusters.
Under suitable conditions, grapes can be grown from the warm or even
hot plains up to an altitude of c.3,000 m., provided annual rainfall
is well within 100 cm. Semi-arid and cooler tracts are better suited
for grape cultivation.
In India, grapes are grown on a commercial scale in two comparatively
different climatic areas, viz. in the States of Maharashtra, Karnataka,
Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu in the Deccan Peninsula, and in the
plains of Punjab, Haryana, and Delhi in the North-West. The cultivation
of grapes has been undertaken in parts of Jammu & Kashrnir, Himachal
Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan.
Because of the equable climate, grapes in the Deccan and other parts
of South India do not have a long dormant season as in the temperate
regions. In South India particularly, the grape-vine grows without
respite, and it is possible to have two crops in a year. The flowering
and the harvesting seasons for the first crop synchronize with the
driest part of the year, and the grapes reach the market from May-June
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