New Muscadines Might Gain More Anthocyanin Muscle

According to the April 2006 issue of Agricultural Research, plant-breeding research by USDA's Agricultural Research Service (ARS) is underway to develop improved muscadine grape varieties with increased levels of anthocyanins and other healthful phenols, including reservatrol and ellagic acid. Muscadines (Vitus rotundifolia) already have higher phenol levels than other, more widely known grape varieties. The primary researcher working on this project, Stephen Stringer, research geneticist, Southern Horticultural Laboratory, Poplarville, MS, is also seeking to boost the levels of growth-regulating compounds in muscadine grapes to produce fruit with thinner skins, firmer flesh, more juice and higher levels of residual sugars, including some seedless types.

The phenols found in muscadines include resveratrol, which acts as an antioxidant and anti-inflammatory agent, and gallic and ellagic acids, which aren't commonly found in high concentrations in other grape species. Research has uncovered significant levels of resveratrol in the skin, pulp and seeds of muscadine grapes; 2 oz. of unfiltered muscadine juice has the same amount of resveratrol as 4 oz. red wine.

Muscadine grapes, with range in color from bronze to greenish-red to pinkish-red to purple and nearly black, are referred to as scuppernongs in some regions. However, the scuppernong is actually a specific variety of this species. To further confuse matters, muscadines actually belong to the subgenus Muscadinia, whereas other grapes belong to Euvitis.

These disease-resistant, high-yielding grapes date back to early pre-Revolutionary America and are native to the Southeast. Their U.S. origin stems from somewhere around St. Augustine, FL, one of the oldest settlements (circa 1565) in the territories that eventually became the United States. Today, muscadine vines grow wild from Delaware south to the Gulf of Mexico and west to Missouri and Texas. Primary uses of muscadine grapes include jams, jellies, juice and wine (typically sweeter, dessert types).

Stringer notes that the first new muscadine varieties might be available later in the year.