ISHS Acta Horticulturae 290: Genetic Resources of Temperate Fruit and Nut Crops
GRAPES (VITIS) |
| Authors: | G. Alleweldt, P. Spiegel-Roy, B. Reisch |
| Abstract:
Worldwide, grapes (Vitis species) are among the most important plant species cultivated with an area of about 9 million ha. The leading cultivated species by far is Vitis vinifera L. Domestication of V. vinifera occurred long ago as evidenced by 5000 year old seeds found at Jericho. The Middle East is believed to be the origin of domesticated grapes (Bassermann-Jordan, 1923; Zohary and Spiegel-Roy, 1975). From this ancestral center, viticulture spread around the Mediterranean Basin to the Far East and was later introduced to the New World, particularly by settlers from the winegrowing countries of the Mediterranean area. Ease of propagation undoubtedly accelerated the process of domestication and cultivation. The wide variation of morphological characters, the edible and palatable fruit, and the ability of the fruit to be made into wine, supported this process. It is, however, uncertain if cultivation and the knowledge of winemaking coincided. Evidence indicates that the fruit was eaten fresh or used for making juice. This use is still prominent where wild grapes grow. Later, again in the Middle East, the technology of wine making was developed. The rapid domestication of the grapevine was supported by the manifold uses of grapes for producing table fruit, wine, juice, and raisins. The grapevine also shows great genetic diversity and broad adaptability to different soils and climates. Nevertheless, variation in Vitis vinifera was insufficient to permit universal cultivation and led to the domestication of other wild species. Important among these are V. labrusca L. and V. rotundifolia Michaux in America (Einset and Pratt, 1975) and V. amurensis Ruprecht in China. Efforts to encourage grape culture in tropical and subtropical climates will probably result in an evaluation of the genetic resources of Vitis species within the Carribean region (Alleweldt, 1989). Grapes are now grown commercially in more than 60 countries with an average production of slightly more than 60 million tons (Anon., 1988 a). The main areas are concentrated in Europe (Table 1), where traditional methods of cultivation prevail and the most important wine producing cultivars originated (Table 2). During the last two decades, however, some remarkable changes took place: total area has been reduced from approximately 10 million ha to 9.1 million ha (Anon., 1988 a), substituted | |
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