Shine Muscat Grapes | Gentle Reading For Sleep

Drift off with a calm bedtime reading about Shine Muscat grapes, created to support sleep and ease insomnia through gentle learning. This calm bedtime reading blends peaceful facts with a relaxed pace that encourages sleep while comforting listeners through insomnia and restless nights.

In this episode, Benjamin softly explores the origins, cultivation, and unique qualities of Shine Muscat grapes, offering something interesting to learn while your body unwinds. His steady, soothing cadence creates a relaxing atmosphere with calm, fact-filled storytelling designed to reduce stress and quiet anxious thoughts.

If insomnia, tension, or a busy mind keeps you awake, press play, get comfortable, and let this peaceful bedtime reading guide you gently toward sleep. Happy sleeping!

Transcript

Welcome to the I Can't Sleep Podcast,

Where I help you drift off one fact at a time.

I'm your host,

Benjamin Boster,

And today's episode is about Shine Muscat grapes.

Shine Muscat is a diploid table grape cultivar,

Resulted from a cross of Akitsu 21 and Hakunan,

Made by National Institute of Fruit Tree Science in Japan in 1988.

It has large yellow-green berries,

Crisp flesh texture,

Muscat flavor,

High soluble solids concentration,

And low acidity.

Nomenclature registration number is grape agriculture and forestry number 21.

NIFS registered Shine Muscat as a plant variety domestically in Japan in 2006,

But its international protection lapsed because the variety was not registered for global protection within the six-year UPOV deadline.

By 2012,

The variety was effectively treated as unprotected outside Japan,

Allowing growers in countries such as China and South Korea to propagate it legally without paying royalties.

In response,

Japan passed legislation in 2021 restricting the overseas sale of seeds and seedlings,

Enabling developers to designate export destinations to protect their intellectual property.

In Japan,

Shine Muscat is considered a high-end grape,

Reportedly selling for up to $100 per bunch.

While production in China and South Korea with larger cultivation areas has allowed for more affordable prices and a substantial increase in global market share.

It is a cultivar that was bred at the National Institute of Agrobiological Sciences Grape Research Center,

Formerly the Akitsu branch of the Fruit Tree Experiment Station of the Ministry of Agriculture,

Forestry,

And Fisheries in Akitsu-cho,

Higashi-Hiroshima City,

Hiroshima Prefecture,

And is an early maturing variety that ripens in mid-August in Hiroshima,

Where it was bred.

The Muscat of Alexandria,

Commonly known as Muscat in Japan,

Is a grape with good taste and texture,

But European grapes,

Including this species,

Are prone to cracking and disease in areas with heavy rainfall,

And are not suited to the Japanese climate,

Requiring facilities such as glasshouses for cultivation.

Resistance to disease and tolerant of the Japanese climate,

American grapes are difficult to bite through and are generally considered to be less palatable than European grapes.

It also has a unique aroma called foxy scent.

To improve on these shortcomings,

The cultivar Steuben,

Which has the highest sugar content of all American grapes,

And Muscat of Alexandria were crossed,

And grape Akitsu-21 was born.

This Akitsu-21 had a flesh similar to Muscat of Alexandria and was rather large,

But it had a not-so-good aroma,

A mixture of Muscat and foxy scents.

Therefore,

A large-grained European grape cultivar called Hakunan,

A cross between Katagorgan and Kaiji,

Which was created at the Uehara Grape Research Institute in Yamanashi Prefecture,

Was crossed with a variety that had the best quality and taste,

But gave up badly due to skin contamination,

And this variety with only Muscat aroma was born.

The grapes were selected from the seedlings of a cross between Akitsu-21 and Hakunan in 1988,

And from 1999 to 2002,

The grapes were named Grape Akitsu-23 and submitted to a strain adaptability test to examine their characteristics nationwide.

Named Shine Muscat and registered on September 5,

2003 as Grape No.

21 of Agriculture and Forestry,

And registered on March 9,

2006 as Grape No.

13,

891,

Valid for 30 years.

The Grape Akitsu-21 was created by crossing Muscat of Alexandria with Steuben,

A cultivar with a sweet,

High-sugar content among American grapes.

The clusters are cylindrical and weigh 400 to 500 grams.

The color and maturity is yellowish-green,

And the grains are short and oval.

The size is 11 to 12 grams,

About the same as Kyoho.

It has a high sugar content of about 20 degrees,

And a low acid content of 0.

3 to 0.

4 grams per 100 milliliters.

With gibberellin treatment,

The whole skin can be eaten without seeds.

The leaves are green in color and wavy at maturity.

The underside of the leaf is densely covered with flat-lined hairs.

In terms of climate,

The grapes are relatively resistant to cold,

And the color does not deteriorate even when the summer is extremely hot.

In terms of taste,

Texture,

And aroma,

It is comparable to European grapes in quality.

It also has excellent storability.

It is a vigorous tree that can produce its first harvest three years after planting.

For the production of relatively large grains and bunches,

Shape the flower ear to 3.

5 to 4 centimeters,

Adjust the axis to 9.

5 to 10 centimeters at about 15 days after full bloom,

And place 4 to 5 seeds on the upper stalk and 2 to 3 seeds on the middle to lower stalk to make a cluster of 45 to 50 seeds.

The method of producing seedless or large fruits using gibberellin,

A type of plant growth hormone,

Was developed in Japan.

This method has been adapted to shine muscat as well as many other grapes for table grapes.

It is important to note that the timing and concentration of the treatment is strictly regulated by the type of grape.

Many of these methods have been patented.

This process makes the skin thin and the fruit edible as is.

Japan's National Institute of Agrobiological Sciences,

The developer of shine muscat,

Registered the variety domestically in 2006,

But did not seek protection overseas as it was not initially intended for export.

Seedlings were later introduced to South Korea and China,

Where they were cultivated and sold at lower prices than in Japan.

Legally propagating a plant variety abroad depends on whether international plant variety rights are in force.

Under the 1991 Act of the International Convention for the Protection of New Varieties of Plants,

A new grape variety must be registered internationally within 6 years of its registration in the country of origin to preserve exclusive rights abroad.

For shine muscat,

This deadline was 2012.

Japan did not file for international registration within this period,

And its intellectual property protection outside Japan expired,

Leaving it unable to collect overseas royalties.

As a result,

Growers in other countries were legally entitled to propagate and market shine muscat without compensating Japan.

The Ministry of Agriculture,

Forestry and Fisheries estimates an annual economic loss of 10 billion yen a year for Japan in this case.

In South Korea,

Yeongcheon,

Gimcheon,

Seongju,

Gyeonsang,

And Gyeongju in Gyeongbuk are the regions which produce shine muscats and export their products about one-third the price in Japan.

Korean varieties of shine muscat are sold in markets such as Hong Kong,

Thailand,

Malaysia,

And Vietnam.

Chinese products are exported overseas at even lower prices.

In 2022,

The South China Morning Post reported that in Hong Kong,

Shine muscat grapes from Japan sold for 100 to 500 Hong Kong dollars per bunch and Korean varieties up to 300 Hong Kong dollars,

Limiting their appeal among price-sensitive consumers.

By comparison,

Chinese muscat priced at 50 to 100 Hong Kong dollars per bunch has been more affordable and has gained market share in recent years.

A grape is a fruit,

Botanically a berry,

Of the deciduous,

Woody vines of the flowering plant genus Vitis.

Grapes are a non-climactric type of fruit,

Generally occurring in clusters.

The cultivation of grapes began approximately 8,

000 years ago and the fruit has been used as human food throughout its history.

Eaten fresh or in dried form,

As raisins,

Currants,

And sultanas,

Grapes also hold cultural significance in many parts of the world,

Particularly for their role in winemaking.

Other grape-derived products include various types of jam,

Juice,

Vinegar,

And oil.

The Middle East is generally described as the homeland of grapes and the cultivation of this plant began there 6,

000 to 8,

000 years ago.

Yeast,

One of the earliest domesticated microorganisms,

Occurs naturally on the skins of grapes,

Leading to the discovery of alcoholic drinks such as wine.

The earliest archaeological evidence for a dominant position of winemaking in human culture dates from 8,

000 years ago in Georgia.

The oldest known winery,

The Areni I Winery,

Was found in Armenia and dates back to around 4,

000 BC.

By the 9th century AD,

The city of Shiraz was known to produce some of the finest wines in the Middle East.

Thus,

It has been proposed that Sarawine is named after Shiraz,

A city in Persia where the grape was used to make Shirazi wine.

Ancient Egyptian hieroglyphics record the cultivation of purple grapes and history attests to the ancient Greeks,

Cypriots,

Venetians,

And Romans growing purple grapes for eating and wine production.

The growing of grapes would later spread to other regions in Europe,

North Africa,

And eventually in North America.

In 2005,

A team of archaeologists concluded the Chalcolithic wine jars discovered in Cyprus in the 1930s dated back to 3,

500 BC,

Making them the oldest of their kind in the world.

Commandaria is the oldest manufactured wine in the world with origins as far back as 2,

000 BC.

In North America,

Native grapes belonging to various species of the genus Vitis proliferate in the wild across the continent and were a part of the diet of many Native Americans,

But early European colonists considered them to be unsuitable for wine.

In the 19th century,

Eve from Bowl of Concord,

Massachusetts,

Cultivated seeds from wild Vitis labrusca vines to create the Concord grape,

Which would become an important agricultural crop in the United States.

Grapes are a type of berry fruit that grow in clusters of 15 to 300.

The berries appear within a 60-day period after fertilization,

First producing tartaric acid,

Then later malic acid,

When their flesh increases in reaction to the hormone of ethylene.

These acids give slight sour taste to the berries other than their sweetness.

When these young berries reach a ripening stage,

The berries change to darker colors,

Increase in size,

And produce sugars.

Ripe grapeberries are typically ellipsoid in shape,

Resembling a prolate spheroid.

Their flesh has 75-85% water content.

The water is obtained from the plant xylem before ripening.

The phloem supplies water with soluble sugars,

Glucose,

And fructose,

Following the ripening stage.

Anthocyanins and other pigment chemicals of the larger family of polyphenols in purple grapes are responsible for the varying shades of purple in the grapeberries and red wines they produce.

Various grapes ripen can be crimson,

Black,

Dark blue,

Yellow,

Green,

Orange,

And pink.

White grapes are actually green in color and are evolutionarily derived from the purple grape.

Mutations in two regulatory genes of white grapes turn off production of anthocyanins,

Which are responsible for the color of purple grapes.

Raw grapes are 81% water,

18% carbohydrates,

1% protein,

And have negligible fat.

A 100-gram reference amount of raw grapes supplies 288 kilojoules of food energy and a moderate amount of vitamin K,

With no other macronutrients in significant amounts.

In 2023,

The world total of land dedicated to grape growing was 6,

595,

680 hectares.

By country dedicating farmland for grape growing in 2023,

Spain had 913,

000 hectares,

France 753,

340 hectares,

Italy 713,

350 hectares,

And China 607,

030 hectares.

Approximately 71% of world grape production is used for wine,

27% as fresh fruit,

And 2% as dried fruit.

There are no reliable statistics that break down grape production by variety.

It is believed that most widely planted variety is Sultana,

Also known as Thompson seedless,

With at least 3,

600 square kilometers dedicated to it.

In 2023,

World production of grapes was 72.

5 million tons.

Led by China with 19% of the total,

With Italy and France as major secondary producers.

In 2023,

The leading exporters of grapes were Peru and Chile,

Each with more than half a million tons.

Commercially cultivated grapes can usually be classified as either table or wine grapes.

Based on their intended method of consumption.

Eaten raw,

Table grapes,

Or used to make wine,

Wine grapes.

The sweetness of grapes depends on when they are harvested,

As they do not continue to ripen once picked.

While almost all belong to the same species,

Table and wine grapes have significant differences,

Brought about through selective breeding.

Table grape cultivars tend to have large seedless fruit,

With relatively thin skin.

Wine grapes are smaller,

Usually seeded,

And have relatively thick skins,

A desirable characteristic in winemaking,

Since much of the aroma in wine comes from the skin.

Grapes accumulate sugars as they grow on the grape vine through the transportation of sucrose molecules that are produced by photosynthesis from the leaves.

During ripening,

The sucrose molecules are hydrolyzed,

Separated into glucose and fructose.

Wine grapes tend to be very sweet.

They are harvested at the time when their juice is approximately 24% sugar by weight.

By comparison,

Commercially produced 100% grape juice,

Made from table grapes,

Is usually around 15% sugar by weight.

Seedless cultivars now make up the overwhelming majority of table grape plantings.

Because grape vines are vegetatively propagated by cuttings,

The lack of seeds does not present a problem for reproduction.

It is an issue for breeders,

Who must either use a seeded variety as the female parent,

Or rescue embryos early in development using tissue culture techniques.

There are several sources of the seedlessness trade,

And essentially all commercial cultivators get it from one of three sources,

Thompson Seedless,

Russian Seedless,

And Black Manuka,

All being cultivars of Vitis vinifera.

There are currently more than a dozen varieties of seedless grapes.

Several,

Such as Einsied Seedless,

Benjamin Gunnell's Prime Seedless Grapes,

Reliance,

And Venus,

Have been specifically cultivated for hardness and quality in the relatively cold climates of northeastern United States and southern Ontario.

An offset to the improved eating quality of seedlessness is the loss of potential health benefits provided by the enriched phytochemical content of grape seeds.

In most of Europe and North America,

Dried grapes are referred to as raisins,

Or the local equivalent.

In Britain and Ireland,

Three different varieties are recognized,

Forcing the EU to use the term dried vine fruit in official documents.

A raisin is any dried grape.

While raisin is a French loanword,

The word in French refers to the fresh fruit.

Grappa,

From which the English grape is derived,

Refers to the bunch.

A raisin in French is called dry grape.

A currant is a dried Xanthi black corinth grape,

The name being a corruption of the French corinth grape.

The names of the black and red currant,

Now more usually black currant and red currant,

Two berries unrelated to grapes,

Are derived from this use.

Some other fruits of similar appearance are also so named,

For example Australian currant,

Native currant,

Indian currant.

A sultana was originally a raisin made from sultana grapes of Turkish origin,

Known as Thompson seedless in the United States,

But the word is now applied to raisins made from either white grapes or red grapes that are bleached to resemble the traditional sultana.

Grape juice is obtained from crushing and blending grapes into a liquid.

The juice is often sold in stores or fermented and made into wine,

Brandy or vinegar.

Grape juice that has been pasteurized,

Removing any naturally occurring yeast,

Will not ferment if kept sterile and thus contains no alcohol.

In the wine industry,

Grape juice that contains 7-23% of pulp,

Skins,

Stems and seeds is often referred to as must.

In North America,

The most common grape juice is purple and made from Concord grapes,

While white grape juice is commonly made from Niagara grapes,

Both of which are varieties of Native American grapes,

A different species from European wine grapes.

In California,

Sultana grapes are sometimes diverted from the raisin or table market to produce white juice.

Husram,

Also known as verjuice,

Is a type of vinegar made from sour grapes in the Middle East.

It is produced by crushing unripened grapes,

Collecting and salting the juice,

Simmering it to remove foam,

And then storing it with a layer of olive oil to prevent contamination and oxidation.

It is then used as an acidic ingredient in salads and stuffed vegetables.

Unripened Husram grapes sent from Ashkelon to Egypt are mentioned in a 12th century document found in the Cairo Geniza.

In Iran,

A sour grape vinegar is used for making Shirazi salad.

Winemaking from red and white grape flesh and skins produces substantial quantities of organic residues,

Collectively called pumice,

Also marked,

Which includes crushed skins,

Seeds,

Stems,

And leaves generally used as compost.

Grape pumice,

Some 10-30% of the total mass of grapes crushed,

Contains various phytochemicals,

Such as unfermented sugars,

Alcohol,

Polyphenols,

Tannins,

Anthocyanins,

And numerous other compounds,

Some of which are harvested and extracted for commercial applications,

A process sometimes called valorization of the pumice.

Anthocyanins tend to be the main polyphenolics in purple grapes,

Whereas flavins 3-OLS are the more abundant class of polyphenols in white varieties.

Total phenolic content is higher in purple varieties,

Due almost entirely to anthocyanin density in purple grape skin compared to absence of anthocyanins in white grape skin.

Phenolic content of grape skin varies with cultivar,

Soil composition,

Climate,

Geographic origin,

And cultivation practices or exposure to diseases,

Such as fungal infections.

Muscadine grape seeds contain about twice the total polyphenol content of skins.

Grape seed oil from crushed seeds is used in cosmeceuticals and skin care products.

Grape seed oil including vitamin E and high contents of phytosterols and polyunsaturated fatty acids,

Such as linoleic acid,

Oleic acid,

And alpha-linoleic acid.

Resveratrol,

A still bean compound,

Is found in widely varying amounts among grape varieties,

Primarily in their skins and seeds.

Muscadine grapes have about 100 times higher concentration of still beans than pulp.

Fresh grape skin contains about 50 to 100 micrograms of resveratrol per gram.

Grape syrup is a condiment made with concentrated grape juice.

It is thick and sweet because of its high ratio of sugar to water.

Grape syrup is made by boiling grapes,

Removing their skins,

And squeezing them through a sieve to extract the juice.

Like other fruit syrups,

A common use of grape syrup is as a topping to sweet cakes,

Such as pancakes or waffles.

It is found in multiple Balkan,

Middle Eastern,

And Caucasian cuisines under a variety of names.

One of the earliest mentions of grape syrup comes from the 5th century B.

C.

Greek physician Hippocrates,

Who refers to hypsema,

The Greek name for the condiment.

The 5th century B.

C.

Athenian playwright Aristophanes also makes a reference to it,

As does Roman-era Greek physician Galen.

Grape syrup was known by different names in ancient Roman cuisine,

Depending on the boiling procedure.

Difrutum,

Karenum,

And Sapa were reductions of must.

They were made by boiling down grape juice or must in large kettles until it had been reduced to two-thirds of the original volume,

Karenum,

Half the original volume,

Difrutum,

Or one-third,

Sapa.

The Greek name for this variant of grape syrup was Sirion.

The main culinary use of Difrutum was to help preserve and sweeten wine,

But it was also added to fruit and meat dishes as a sweetening and souring agent.

Difrutum was mixed with garum to make the popular condiment onegarum.

Quince and melon were preserved in Difrutum and honey through the winter,

And some Roman women used Difrutum or Sapa as a cosmetic.

Difrutum was often used as a food preservative in provisions for Roman troops.

In ancient Rome,

Grape syrup was often boiled in lead pods,

Which sweetened the syrup through the leaching of the sweet-tasting chemical compound lead acetate into the syrup.

A 2009 History Channel documentary produced a batch of historically accurate Difrutum in lead-lined vessels and tested the liquid,

Finding a lead level of 29,

000 parts per billion,

Which is 2,

900 times higher than contemporary American drinking water limit of 10 parts per billion.

These levels are easily high enough to cause either acute lead toxicity if consumed in large amounts,

Or chronic lead poisoning when consumed in smaller quantities over a longer period of time.

However,

The use of lead in cookware,

So popular,

Was not the general standard of use.

Copper cookware was used far more generally,

And no indication exists as to how often Sapa was added,

Or in what quantity.

There is not,

However,

Scholarly agreement on the circumstances and quantity of lead in these ancient Roman condiments.

For instance,

The original research was done by Jerome Riagu,

But was criticized by John Scarborough,

A pharmacologist and classicist,

Who characterized Riagu's research as so full of false evidence,

Miscitations,

Typographical errors,

And a blatant inflippancy regarding primary sources that the reader cannot trust the basic arguments.

Thank you for watching!

Reviews

Fascinating that Japan didn’t “copywrite” the grapes 🍇 in time to keep them from the open market. I didn’t stay awake long enough to hear these grapes have been grown in the US. Thanks Ben as ever!

I love grapes! But I don’t like soft grapes because they are a weird texture… anyway I hope you have a nice day/night/