Muscadine Grape (Muscadinia rotundifolia)

The muscadine grape grows well here in Lehigh and most of the southwest U.S. The mature pines surrounding me all have wild muscadine grapes growing up the trunks. They love hot, wet summers and the muscadine do not require significant cold as other varieties of grapes do. The ripe grapes can be green, black, bronze or purple depending on the variety. Green Deane (see video below) says to check the seeds before eating. Don't eat the fruit if the seed is crescent moon shaped. Don't eat if the fruit is bright blue.

The University of Florida has details of domesticated muscadine cultivars here and details of muscadine grape immune benefits here.

Wikipedia states: "Muscadine grapes are rich sources of polyphenols and other nutrients studied for their potential health benefits. Gallic acid, (+)-catechin and epicatechin are the major phenolics in seeds, while ellagic acid, myricetin, quercetin, kaempferol, and trans-resveratrol were the major phenolics in the skins."

Doctor Oz states: "Muscadine grapes are a hardy native American grape that is grown mostly in the southeastern states of the USA. Its naturally high inherent concentrations of flavonoids (resveratrol, quercetin and ellagic acid) make these grapes naturally resistant to many of the diseases that plague other types of grapes – and these same compounds are what make muscadine grapes so protective against many different types of human cancers."

I enjoy eating our muscadines raw, out-of-hand, spitting out the seeds. They can also be used to make juice, jelly, and wine. All the "good stuff" that doctors chat about in grapes is in the tough skin of grapes so make sure to eat that too. The leaves can be used for all kinds of salads and wraps, blanched and frozen, pickled, or brined. The young tendrils (the curly things) can also be eaten.

In addition to the wild grapes around us, we also have a black "Lowes" muscadine growing on the East side of the house. We created an inexpensive trellis for the grapes to grow on by drilling holes into the concrete/stucco, securing screw eyes into the holes at various measured heights, attaching galvanized wire horizontally. Here is a similar type construction with directions with both horizontal and vertical wire use. The grape leaves provide shade for the house in the summer months and allows more heat to get through in the winter months when the leaves have dropped.

The Green Deane video on edible wild grapes shown below can be viewed here. http://youtu.be/3Mc0tk3cDZA