Plant name: Grape Seed (skin) P.E.
Latin name: Vitis vinifera L.
Part used: Seed (skin)
1 Summary
The protophyte of Grape belongs to vitaceae family, as fruit or fruit skin of
Vitis Vinifera. As one of the oldest plants in the earth, also one of the
earliest cultivated trees by human being, it's regarded as famous crop with economic value.
Shape: Being as deciduous leaf xylem vine, the barks of Grape tree peel off in pieces. The branch is thick & strong, with young branch smooth or
covered by soft hair. Leafstalk is 4 to 9cm in length. Tiny flower, color in
yellowishgreen, and flower disc consists of 5 kinds of gland. The berry
presents ellipse or globular shape, with mauve or dark green color in
maturity. Wrapped by pale powder, the fruit is very delicious in taste.
Florescence: June. Fruit period: Aug. to Sep.
Cultivation: In general, Grape breeds by making a cuttage of branches. It
begins to bear fruit from 2nd to 3rd year after making cuttage, to enter into flourishing from 5th-6th year. The berry grows in double S curve.The growth includes the whole phenologic period in bud, in blossom, in fruit coloring, in fruit maturity and
in original twig, etc. As the plant in warm temperate zone, Grape requires
more heat.The suitable temperature for growth & fruit bearing is about 20--25ºC, and the temperature during blossom should not be under 14--15ºC. High temperature above 40ºC will do harm to grape.During
dormancy, the mature branches of grape is cold - resistant around the
temperature -18ºC. In addition, grape is a little drought-enduring, with inhibition to the growth when short of water. The fruit spike is in hypoplasia, belonging to light-like plant. Its root system is much developed, suitable for several kinds of
soil, better to grow in the soil with PH value as
6-7.5.With stronger ability of saline-proof, it still can regularly grow in the soil with PH value as 9. The ground
water level should be under 1.5-2m.
Gathering: The harvest season is between August and Spetember.
Gathering must be done in sunny days, and not good in drizzling days, or in the noon with strong sunshine so as to avoid influence to the quality of the fruit.
Distribution:With potent adaptability, grape is well cultivated and distributed everywhere in China, mainly in Shandong provinces. Most of
the grapery in the world are distributed between latitude
20-52 °N and between 30--45°S, among which most of them over the Northern Hemisphere. Normally the altitude is about 400-600m.
2 The main chemical composition
The major functional composition in grape is grape polyphenol including
proanthocyanidins. Besides, there are some other ingredients, like
glucose, fructose, sucrose, xylose, tartaric acid, oxalic acid, citric acid,
malic acid and single glucoside & glucobioside of all kinds of
anthocyanidin.
2.1 Polyphenols
There are mainly 4 kinds of polyphenol substances in grape: tannin,
anthocyanidin, phenolic acid and flavonoids. The vital polyphenols in grape is the same kind as flavonoids type, including flavane-3, 4-diol, flavonoids tannin, flavonoids, flavonol, flavanol, chalcone and
anthocyadin, etc. Anthocyanidins in grape are mainly as anthocyanin,
methyle anthocyanin, petunidin, malvin and dephinidin, existing in common by dimmer or bigger molecule. The composition of flavonol kind in grape is major for quercetin in ordinary form. Proanthocyanidins are major
ingredients in grape seed & grape skin, also the most kind in polyphenol
content, mainly existing by dimer or polymer form.
2.2 Carbohydrate & total acid
Grape is abundant in sugar, which mainly as glucose and fructose;
besides, with a little sucrose and xylose. Total acid is generally regarded
as tartaric acid, additional with a little oxalic acid, citric acid and malic acid.
3 The major efficacy
3.1 Antioxidant Effect
The antioxidant capacity of Grape Seed ( skin ) Extract comes from proanthocyanidins ( OPCs ). With an antioxidant power 20 times stronger than
Vitamin C and 50 times stronger than Vitamin E, OPCs is known as a
powerful antioxidant to neutralize free radicals, which play a major role in
degenerative diseases, cardiovascular diseases, impaired vision, sun
damage and premature aging.
3.2 Cardiovascular Diseases
Researches have assured that OPCs helps strengthen capillaries, arteries and veins, which endows it several important clinical applications. OPCs
appears to stabilize the walls of blood vessels, reduce inflammation, and
generally support tissues containing collagen and elastin. OPCs not only
can relieve or repair arteriosclerosis, but also relieve pain and oedema of
venous insufficiency, through strengthening capillary and dropping
permeability of capillary. Being effective against oedema that often follows injury or surgery, OPCs has been proved to effectively improve pathological changes in retina caused by diabetes, arteriosclerosis, inflammation and
aging. For the same reason, it has been reported that OPCs can speed
vision recovery after strong light, and improve vision acuity of those who
suffer from eye fatigue due to long-time computer using.
3.3 Skin Care
OPCs is thought to prevent the skin from excessive UV radiation and free
radicals. Considerable evidences indicate that OPCs protect and
strengthen collagen and elastin of the skin, so that wrinkles are prevented and elasticity of the skin is kept.
4 Physical and chemical character of Proanthocyanidins
5 Dosage
For use as a general antioxidant much as you might use vitamin E or
vitamin C, 50 mg of OPCs daily are sufficient. A higher dosage of 150 to
300 mg daily is generally used for treating specific diseases such as
varicose veins.
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