California Ag Network

Tag: Grapes

  • Research Suggests Fresh Grapes are a Superfood

    A new article appearing in the current issue of the peer-reviewed Journal of Agriculture and Food Chemistry explores the concept of “superfoods” and makes a case that fresh grapes have earned what should be a prominent position in the superfood family. The author, leading resveratrol and cancer researcher John M. Pezzuto, Ph.D., D.Sc., Dean of the College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences at Western New England University, brings forth an array of evidence to support his perspective on this issue.

    As noted in the article, the term “superfood” is a common word without an official definition or established criteria. Mainstream superfoods are typically part of the Mediterranean Diet and generally rich in natural plant compounds that are beneficial to a person’s health. Pezzuto addresses the broader topic of superfoods in detail, then makes the scientific case for grapes, noting that fresh grapes are underplayed in this arena and often not included with mention of other similar foods, such as berries.

    Grapes are a natural source of over 1,600 compounds, including antioxidants and other polyphenols such as flavonoids, anthocyanidins, catechins, phenolic acids, resveratrol, and more. Polyphenols are credited with the health benefits of grapes, via antioxidant activity and influencing cellular processes. It is the whole grape and the unique matrix of these compounds within it that creates the biological effects, not a single component.

    Over sixty peer-reviewed studies have been published in the scientific literature on grapes and health. The role of grapes on cardiovascular health is well established, including promoting relaxation of blood vessels and healthy circulation, as well as modulating cholesterol levels. Clinical trials also show that grapes support brain health (help maintain healthy brain metabolism and beneficial impacts on cognition), skin health (enhanced resistance to UV radiation and DNA damage in skin cells), gut health (modulating the gut microbiome and increasing diversity in the gut), and eye health (retinal impact via increase in macular pigment optical density). Finally, in the realm of nutrigenomics – the study of foods on gene expression in the body – grape consumption has been shown to positively alter gene expression in relevant body systems. Pezzuto suggests that it is these activities at the genetic level that are likely the

    driving force behind the health benefits of grapes.

    “Dr. Pezzuto shows that based on the science, grapes are indeed a superfood, and should be recognized as such,” said Ian LeMay, president of the California Table Grape Commission, “and we are hopeful that using this nomenclature in association with grapes becomes common practice. Luckily, whether consumed for health or sheer enjoyment as a healthy snack, eating California grapes is a win for consumers.”

  • Grapes, Health and a Healthy Immune System

    The COVID-19 pandemic has caused a refocus on building and maintaining a healthy immune system. Information on the way in which fresh grapes contribute to both is now available in one place for easy reference.

    The health info-sheet combines results of health research on the benefit grapes provide to brain, heart, and colon health with data from two professors at Tufts Friedman School of Nutrition Science and Policy showing how healthy diets that include grapes can help flatten the COVID-19 curve. In addition, two recent magazine articles summarize a number of ways grape consumption positively impacts health.

    The first magazine article, from Good Housekeeping titled, “10 Health Benefits of Grapes That’ll Make You Want to Eat the Whole Bunch,” highlights how grapes help regulate blood pressure, lower the risk of diabetes, and can help with weight loss or management.

    The second article, “Feast Upon the 100 Best Foods for Men,” from Men’s Health, highlights the antioxidant power of grapes to help fight disease.

    In fact, grapes have over 1,600 phytonutrients that may also help maintain health in a variety of ways from promoting antioxidant activity to enhancing cell-to-cell communications, which help maintain the health of cells.

    See the following health info-sheet as the 2020-21 California table grape season gets underway in the next few days and runs through January:

    Supporting immune function through a healthy diet has become a focus for government officials, registered dietitians and the medical community during the COVID-19 pandemic. One key dietary recommendation is to eat more fruits and vegetables each day to improve immune function and prevent heart disease and diabetes. “How Your Diet Can Help Flatten the Curve” by two professors from the Tufts University Friedman School of Nutrition Science and Policy and a former Secretary of Agriculture provides important facts on how a healthy diet contributes to improved health overall. Excerpts include:

    • Higher intakes of specific nutrients appear to boost the immune system, while low intakes lead to less effective immune responses and higher susceptibility to infection.
    • Beyond the measures taken to fight the virus in the short term, long-term impacts must be reduced. Preventing and lessening the severity of existing cardiovascular disease and diabetes should be a key tactic. Among different risks and preventive approaches for these diseases, nutrition tops the list.
    • A recent multi-investigator study estimated that about 45 percent of all cardiovascular disease and diabetes deaths are directly attributable to poor diet. Another recent study estimated that poor diet kills about 530,000 Americans annually, equating to nearly 1,500 deaths everyday. Studies have found grapes to be both heart healthy and linked to benefits in multiple areas of health, including support for immune function. Some specifics:
    1. Fresh, whole grapes contain over 1,600 natural plant compounds including antioxidants and other polyphenols, both of which have been shown to protect the health and function of cells, which help protect against diseases.
    2. Grapes are a natural source of the polyphenol stilbenoid called resveratrol. Studies have shown resveratrol positively influences immune function.
    3. Grapes are heart healthy. Nutritional studies have shown that adding grapes to your diet every day supports a healthy heart and may reduce certain risk factors for heart disease.
    4. Grapes are hydrating, containing about 82 percent water. Hydration is critical to optimizing immune response.
    5. Grapes are a low glycemic index fruit and can fit into balanced diabetic diets. A recent study found that eating grapes was associated with a lower risk of type 2 diabetes, unrelated to their low glycemic index.
    6. Grapes may help support a healthy brain. In a preliminary study conducted at UCLA, researchers found that consuming a little over 2 cups of grapes every day preserved healthy metabolic activity in regions of the brain associated with early-stage Alzheimer’s disease.
    7. Grapes may help protect against certain cancers, such as colon cancer. Researchers found that consuming about 21⁄2 cups of grapes every day for two weeks showed a significant reduction in the expression of certain target genes responsible for promoting tumor growth in the colon.

  • CAWG Elects New Board Officers and Directors

    The California Association of Winegrape Growers (CAWG) has announced the election of new board officers and directors. CAWG is governed by 28 growers in seven districts who serve three-year terms beginning Dec. 1.

    Mike Testa of Coastal Vineyard Care in Buellton, pictured above, was elected chair. He succeeds Bill Berryhill of BB Vineyards in Ceres, who served in the role for two years. Other directors elected as officers are Tom Slater of Slater Farms in Clarksburg, vice chair; Davindar Mahil of Creekside Farming in Madera, vice chair; Jeff Bitter, winegrape grower in Madera, secretary; and Gregg Hibbits of Mesa Vineyard Management in Templeton, treasurer.

    “Mike’s extensive industry experience and connections will be tremendously beneficial to CAWG and California winegrape growers,” said CAWG President John Aguirre. “The association is fortunate to have a highly engaged and motivated group of officers and directors guiding our advocacy efforts on behalf of winegrape growers.”

    Re-elected directors are John Balletto of Balletto Vineyards in Santa Rosa, Joel Maring of J. Maring Farms in Patterson, and Jeff Bitter of Madera.

    New directors are David Beckstoffer of Beckstoffer Vineyards in Napa, Chris Lynch of Walsh Vineyards Management in Napa, and Michael Manna of Manna Ranch, Inc. in Acampo. New directors-at-large are Karissa Kruse of Sonoma County Winegrowers and Kim Stemler of Monterey County Vintners and Growers Association.

    Outgoing directors are Michael Boer of Stipp Ranch in Ukiah, Diego Olagaray of Olagaray Brothers in Lodi, Bruce Phillips of Vine Hill Ranch in Yountville, and Brian Shepard of Walsh Vineyards Management in Napa.

  • Entomologist Frank Zalom Delivers 2017 ARS B. Y. Morrison Memorial Lecture at ASHS Conference

    Waikoloa, Hawaii, (September 26, 2017) – “Significance of Integrated Pest Management to Sustainable Horticultural Production—Observations and Experiences” is the title of entomologist Frank G. Zalom’s 2017 ARS Benjamin Y. Morrison Memorial Lecture, which he delivered today at the American Society for Horticultural Science annual conference in Waikoloa, Hawaii.

    2017 ARS B. Y. Morrison Memorial Lecturer Frank G. Zalom

    Zalom is nationally and internationally renowned for his leadership developing research-based integrated pest management (IPM) programs. He is also recognized for his adeptness in mobilizing and coordinating different and often divergent scientific, stakeholder and governmental groups to achieve a common goal of industrywide improvements in pest and pesticide management for individual crops such as almonds, tomatoes, strawberries, grapes and olives.

    IPM benefits most from a transdisciplinary approach to developing a control program, especially one that places the plant at the center as the “unifier of knowledge,” so that the plant’s own particular biology and its special defenses can be brought into play, Zalom explained.

    Under Zalom’s guidance, the University of California Integrated Pest Management Program became recognized as the premier program of its type as he reinforced the need for sustainability in the pursuit of managing pests. Today, he serves as distinguished professor and extension specialist in the Department of Entomology and Nematology at UC Davis.

    For example, Zalom first helped develop and then implemented a pest management program for the navel orangeworm—a key almond pest—that has been widely adopted by California growers. As a result, damage from this pest dropped from 8.8 percent annually to less than 1.5 percent while industrywide insecticide use for navel orangeworm control decreased by more than 40 percent.

    He also led a multidisciplinary research and extension effort in the 1990s that reduced organophosphate dormant spray use in almonds by more than 50 percent and ultimately by 90 percent across California orchard crops. Organophosphates had been running off into the Sacramento River after winter rainfalls, and cuts in their use helped bring the river back into compliance with the Clean Water Act.

    The Agricultural Research Service (ARS) established this memorial lectureship in 1968 to honor the memory of Benjamin Y. Morrison (1891-1966) and to recognize scientists who have made outstanding contributions to horticulture and other environmental sciences and to encourage the use of these sciences. Morrison was a pioneer in horticulture and the first director of ARS’s U.S. National Arboretum in Washington, D.C. A scientist, landscape architect, plant explorer and breeder, author and lecturer, Morrison advanced the science of botany in the United States and fostered broad international exchange of ornamental plants.

    For more information about the B.Y. Morrison Memorial Lecture, see https://www.ars.usda.gov/oc/lectures/morrison/

    For more information contact Kim Kaplan, ARS Office of Communications.