Grapes are grown in large quantity for being eaten as fruits and raisins (dried grapes),  for alcoholic beverages                 and health tonic. There are not too many regions in the world where grapes can be cultivated properly. The reason is that grapes are a temperate crop. When the grapes are grown, there must be many weeks of hot, rainless dry weather in which the grapes can ripe. The places near the Mediterranean, parts of Spain and Greece, regions in Asia Minor and some parts of Southern Australia have the favourable climate for cultivation of grapes. Grapes began somewhere near the Caspian Sea of Russia. Our country India is also one of the few hot countries where grapes are cultivated. The medical treatises of Charaka and Sushruta mentioned about the medicinal value of grapes. But grapes came to India along with the Muslim conquerors through Persia (modern Iran) and Afghanistan.

Grapes are cultivated in more than 30 million acres of land in the world. From West Asia grape cultivation spread to the Western countries-Britain, France, Spain, Germany, Italy, Eastern Europe, Greece and then to U.S.A. The Western countries grow grapes mainly for their wine and liquor industries. But in countries like Turkey, Afghanistan, Iran, Iraq, Lebanon, Israel and Egypt grapes are cultivated for production of raisins or dried grapes. In tropical countries like the South American countries of Brazil, Colombia and Peru and in our India, table varieties of grapes are grown.

The grapevines are leaves shedding shrubby climbing plants, which are grown by cuttings and grafts. Rocky and sandy soils are quite suitable for grape gardens. A good grapevine can grow to a length of about 35 metres. A grapevine bears its first good crops in its third year and then yields regularly for several years. There are some vineyards in Europe having creepers more than hundred years old. Grapes are plucked when they are ripe, as they do not further ripen after being harvested. Again, the entire grape bunches do not ripen at the same time. So the plucking season of grapes extends over twelve to twenty days. Grapes also have different harvesting seasons in different areas. In America the grapes ripen in August. In our country are they set in December and hit the market by early April. Frost and heavy rains spoil the grapes making them sour.

Grapes contain sugar and acids in almost equal amount. Grape sugars are usually glucose or dextrose and the fruits having more glucose ferment more readily. Grapes have also large amounts of pectin for which it is easy to make jams and marmalades out of them. The table grapes are good sources of calcium, phosphorus and iron. Traces of iodine, vitamin A and fluoride are found in grapes. Ripe grapes are good thirst quenchers, delicious to taste, stimulant for kidneys and mildly laxative. Raisins or dried grapes are good energy givers.

More than 8,000 varieties of commercial grapes are found in the world. The most important types found in India are Anabeshahi or green grapes, Thompson, seedless, Bhokri and Bangalore blue. The Anabeshahi grapes are very popular in our country and the Bangalore blue having a sweet smell and good taste is the next  important grape.