Cotton Candy Grapes
Photo credit: Live Science
People who like healthy snacks and carnivals can now enjoy a strange fruit—grapes that taste like cotton candy. Those who hate genetic engineering or artificial flavors can also breathe easy. This grape variety is the result of natural breeding.
Horticulturalists from California chose two species to work with. The first was a type of Vitis vinifera, one of the most common types in grocery stores. The other was a Concord-like grape. This variety is used in Welch’s jellies, juices, and jams.
Both are seedless varieties and cannot reproduce naturally. This forced scientists through an arduous process of extracting grape embryos, growing them in test tubes, and then planting them in a vineyard. It took about 100,000 test tubes before the Cotton Candy grape hybrid was born.
Packed with 12 percent more sugar than other grapes, the fruit was a hit when it became available to the public in 2011. The high sugar content prevents an old produce malady—fruit that is often tasteless by the time of purchase.
Wouldn't you know it? Now I'm hungry for grapes...go figure. They do go OK with coffee, though.
Speaking of coffee, we better have ours in the kitchen this morning. The cold is back.
