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CLASSIFICATION

ORDER	: Vitales
FAMILY	: Vitaceae
GENUS	: Vitis L.
SPECIES	: vinifera L.
BOTANICAL NAME	: Vitis vinifera L.
SYNONYMS	: ---
COMMON NAME	: Grape vine.
TAMIL NAME	: Thiratchai.
HINDI NAME	: Angoor.

PLANT DESCRIPTION

HABIT:  Grape Vine is a liana growing up to 30 m tall, with flaky bark.

LEAVES:  The leaves are alternate, palmately lobed, 5-20 cm long and broad.

FLOWERS:  Flowers are borne in large inflorescences carried on stalks 4-5 cm long, often bearing unbranched tendril. Flower are bisexual or functionally pistillate with shorter sterile stamens, greenish in colour, about 1.5 x 1 mm, flower-stalk about2 mm long, wiry, elongated and thickened in fruit. Calyx is minute, cup-shaped. Petals are 5, about 1.5 mm long, lanceshaped.

FRUIT:  The fruit is a berry, known as a grape, in the wild species it is 6 mm in diameter and ripens dark purple to blackish with a pale wax bloom.

MEDICINAL USES

Grape seed extract in particular has been reported to possess a broad spectrum of pharmacological and therapeutic effects such as antioxidative, anti-inflammatory, and antimicrobial activities, as well as having cardioprotective, hepatoprotective, and neuroprotective effects.

The HMPC also concluded that, on the basis of its long-standing use, grapevine leaf preparations can be used for relief of discomfort and heaviness of legs related to minor problems with blood circulation in the veins, for relief of itching and burning associated with haemorrhoids (piles).

IMAGES

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