ATLANTA — The Southern table — perhaps unfairly — gets a rap for being rife with unhealthy food choices. Yet research shows that the region's native grape may be one of the healthiest snacks around. The muscadine offers as many, if not more, nutritional benefits as noni, acai, pomegranate and all the other so-called "wonder fruits" that people try to wrestle into their diets.
"Muscadines are unique in that they offer a very high concentration of naturally occurring molecules with a variety of properties," says Dr. David Herrington, a cardiologist at Wake Forest University who is conducting a clinical trial looking at the effects of muscadines on vascular health.
Many of these naturally occurring molecules are anti-oxidants that can prevent the oxidative stress in human cells that is associated with stroke, cancer and coronary heart disease. One cup of fresh muscadines contains more than twice the anti-oxidant power of the average person's daily intake.
The anti-oxidants in abundant supply in muscadines range from vitamin C to resveratrol, the compound found in grape skins that has been associated with the "French paradox" of red wine intake. They are also particularly rich in flavonols, anthocynanins and ellagic acid.
"The mixture of elements in these grapes is one of the most novel things about them," says Herrington. "If you give people a single anti-oxidant, it's not necessarily that helpful. But people who eat a lot of different anti-oxidants in their diets" [reap the benefits].
Most of the these nutraceutical compounds are in the seeds and skins of the grapes, which makes sense if you think about it. Bitter, chewy, taut and thick, muscadine skins are a deterrent to first-time consumers and a challenge to cooks, but they have allowed the grapes to thrive in the South's sometimes unfriendly climate. Antioxidant compounds in the grapes protect them from the region's harsh sun and ward off unfriendly microbes.
Herrington estimates that hundreds of studies have been conducted, mostly in Southern universities, that look at specific muscadine-based anti-oxidants in relation to specific human diseases and conditions. His clinical-trials study, the findings from which have not yet undergone peer review, will look at the effect of a muscadine dietary supplement on endothelial function — the cells that aid blood transport. A laboratory-based study at Wake Forest is looking at how the seeds might inhibit cancer cell growth.
It's no surprise, then, that there has been a corresponding surge in the number of dietary supplements made from the ground seeds and skins of the Southern muscadine harvest. Often the two go together, as muscadine growers fund research.
One of the best surveys of research — "Muscadine Medicine" — was self-published by University of Georgia pharmacologists Diane K. Hartle, Phillip Greenspan and James L. Hargrove, who founded the company Blue Heron Nutraceuticals.
But now that muscadine season is in full swing, why take a pill? Enjoy the grapes and, if you can, eat the skins.
John Kessler writes for The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. E-mail: jkessler AT ajc.com