Most Spaniards have probably once choked while eating the traditional 12 grapes on New Year's Eve, likely because of the seeds, which can easily get stuck in your throat. Many choose to remove the seeds before Madrid's Puerta del Sol appears on television, but there is a simpler option: buying them seedless.
"Seeds are obviously not removed in a factory, which would not be very hygienic. Seedless grapes grow like that," points out Joaquín Gómez, president of the Association of Producers and Exporters of Fruit (APOEXPA), who also explained that "if we removed the seeds before marketing the grapes, the quality of the fruit would no longer be the same."
However, human intervention has in fact had a lot to do with the popularisation of this fruit variety. "The first seedless grapes started to be grown intensively 20 years ago in California. A seedless variety has always existed, but it was not extended." The absence of seeds does not affect the reproduction of the vine because, like other fruit trees, it reproduces through cuttings.
"With the intensive application of the laws of Mendel, it has been possible for seedless grapes to expand," adds Gómez. The same logic applied by the Austrian monk Gregor Mendel to peas, which was the basis for the study of genetics, is still in force today when it comes to spreading new crops. "Based on selective crosses, you get what you want. There are even grapes with a strawberry or raspberry flavour. "In short, it is not about genetic modification, but a meticulous selection of specimens.
In Spain, seedless grapes are mostly grown in the Region of Murcia, which accounts for 90% of the national production, according to Gómez. Likewise, of the 150,000 tonnes of table grapes (both with and without seeds) exported abroad in 2015, 110,000 came from this autonomous region. "Spain is the largest producer of seedless grapes in Europe," he points out. Next in the ranking are Italy (the largest producer of grapes with seeds) and Greece.
These Mediterranean countries are not precisely those consuming the most seedless grapes. "At the moment, seedless grapes account for just 10% of the total volume consumed in Spain. Traditional grapes still rule the market. In other countries, such as Germany, the share is already at 50% for each type. In the Baltic countries, 80% of the grapes consumed are seedless, while in the UK we are talking about practically all of them." In the United States, it is also the dominant variety.
The weak penetration of seedless grapes in the Spanish domestic market, according to Gómez, is due to the scarce promotion of the product in Spain. "They have only been sold in Spain for about three or four years; their popularity will grow little by little." Another reason is their price, which is around twice that of the most consumed grapes. "One kilo of seedless grapes can cost two and a half Euro, while a kilo of regular grapes will normally cost half that."
Grapes are not the only fruit that have changed due to human intervention, as there has been a continuous crossing of varieties for centuries to make them more palatable. In the past, for instance, bananas were full of seeds and watermelons had holes in them. The same has happened with other foods, such as carrots (white or brown), corn (smaller) or aubergines (white or yellow). Some of the best examples are reviewed in this video by Grub Street (New York Magazine supplement).
If you are one of those who peel the grapes on New Year's Eve, you are not as lucky as those who hate the seeds. At the moment, the possibility of developing grapes without skin appears to be a utopia. "That's a lot to ask for," states Gomez. "You could never get that in a natural way. The grapes without skin that can be bought are preserved; it is removed manually or mechanically," he adds.
Gómez highlights the success of seedless grapes among children. "When they try them, they do not want any other ones. They are becoming popular little by little. It will be a similar process to that observed with watermelons, with seeded ones becoming increasingly harder to find. The day will come when there will be more grapes without seeds than with seeds on New Year's Eve," he says. Then, there will also be fewer accidents in the final seconds of the year.
Source: elpais.com