page_title: Vitis vinifera
section_title: Uses
hierarchical_section_title: Vitis vinifera / Uses
caption_attribution_description: Deutsch: Weinrebe, Vitis vinifera subsp. vinifera English: A cultivated Common Grape Vine, Vitis vinifera subsp. vinifera
context_page_description: Vitis vinifera, the common grape vine, is a species of Vitis, native to the Mediterranean region, Central Europe, and southwestern Asia, from Morocco and Portugal north to southern Germany and east to northern Iran. There are currently between 5,000 and 10,000 varieties of Vitis vinifera grapes though only a few are of commercial significance for wine and table grape production.
  It is a liana growing to 32 m in length, with flaky bark. The leaves are alternate, palmately lobed, 5–20 cm long and broad. The fruit is a berry, known as a grape; in the wild species it is 6 mm diameter and ripens dark purple to blackish with a pale wax bloom; in cultivated plants it is usually much larger, up to 3 cm long, and can be green, red, or purple. The species typically occurs in humid forests and streamsides.
  The wild grape is often classified as V. vinifera subsp. sylvestris, with V. vinifera subsp. vinifera restricted to cultivated forms. Domesticated vines have hermaphrodite flowers, but subsp. sylvestris is dioecious and pollination is required for fruit to develop.
  The grape is eaten fresh, processed to make wine, vinegar or juice, or dried to produce raisins.
context_section_description: Use of grapes is known to date back to Neolithic times, following the discovery in 1996 of 7,000-year-old wine storage jars in present-day northern Iran. Further evidence shows the Mesopotamians and Ancient Egyptians had vine plantations and winemaking skills. Greek philosophers praised the healing powers of grapes both whole and in the form of wine. Vitis vinifera cultivation and winemaking in China began during the Han Dynasty in the 2nd century with the importation of the species from Ta-Yuan.  However, wild vine "mountain grapes" like Vitis thunbergii were being used for wine making before that time. In traditional medicine of India V. vinifera is used in prescriptions for cough, respiratory tract catarrh, subacute cases of enlarged liver and spleen, as well as in alcohol-based tonics (Aasavs).
  In the Mediterranean Basin, leaves and young stems are traditionally used to feed sheep and goats after grapevine pruning. 
  Using the sap of grapevines, European folk healers sought to cure skin and eye diseases. Other historical uses include the leaves being used to stop bleeding, pain and inflammation of hemorrhoids. Unripe grapes were used for treating sore throats, and raisins were given as treatments for consumption (tuberculosis), constipation and thirst. Ripe grapes were used for the treatment of cancer, cholera, smallpox, nausea, skin and eye infections as well as kidney and liver diseases.
  Seedless grape varieties were developed to appeal to consumers, but researchers are now discovering that many of the healthful properties of grapes may actually come from the seeds themselves, thanks to their enriched phytochemical content.
  Grapevine leaves are filled with minced meat (such as lamb, pork or beef), rice and onions in the making of Balkan traditional dolma.
caption: A cultivated Common Grape Vine, Vitis vinifera subsp. vinifera
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