2023 is already coming to an end. As New Year’s Eve approaches, we are preparing to say goodbye to the year in the best way. When the bells ring on December 31, almost all Spaniards will have those twelve traditional grapes on hand, ready to be gobbled up as quickly as possible. But unlike previous years, when you could only choose between white or red, there is now a wide range of varieties: with or without seeds, more or less sweet, sour and even with a candy flavor.
Grapes are traditionally eaten on New Year’s Eve as a symbol of good luck for the New Year, and now they can be adapted to different tastes. But what does this extensive list of options depend on?
The variety largely determines the flavor of the fruit. Therefore, “getting to know them is interesting to be able to choose which one we like best,” explains Albert García, representative of the Rondafruits company, in this report. The expert assures that “there are no better or worse ones, there are different flavors, sweeter or more acidic”, so the choice will depend on our tastes.
One of the most consumed grapes in Spain is Muscat, which is so versatile that it can be used to make wine, raisins or to eat fresh. However, it is also possible to find the Cotton candy variety, a curious and sweet type of grape that emulates the flavor of cotton candy. And although it seems that this variety has been genetically modified in a laboratory, spokespersons for the producing brand Moyca assure in this article that it is simply the result of the hybridization of two species of grapes, which give it its characteristic flavor.
These grapes are a subtype of the Candy variety, as are Candy Snaps (red seedless) or Candy Dreams (black seedless). They are fruits that are characterized by their marked sweetness and crunchy texture, reminiscent of candy. The Regal, yellow in color and quite sweet, or the Crimson, a red seedless grape that combines sweetness and acidity, are other options available on the market.
We may prefer them sweeter or more acidic, but a question that is not far behind when it comes to grapes is: with or without seeds? Here the question may also arise as to whether the seedless fruits have been genetically modified, to which we can safely say no. According to this article from Michigan State University, while seedless fruit has a bad reputation, it is completely natural: “They are not common, but they exist naturally or can be manipulated without using genetic engineering techniques. No seedless plant seeds is currently a genetically modified organism (GMO),” the experts establish.
Although it may sound complicated, this wide range of grape varieties simply responds to multiple artificial selection exercises that have been developed for hundreds of years. The company that produces horticultural tools Ingivision explains that “since the discovery of agriculture and livestock, farmers chose (and choose) the best specimens to cross them and obtain improvements in their production. The same thing happens with agriculture: they have been selected certain varieties that have changed the appearance and many other characteristics of the plants and their fruits to make them more productive, durable or attractive to the consumer”. And this is not simply limited to the case of grapes. It is also possible to see it in other products such as bananas or watermelons, whose seeds have also been reduced to facilitate their consumption.
In conclusion, if we now have the possibility of finding more or less sweet grapes, with or without seeds, and even with a cotton candy flavor, it is simply a response to consumer tastes. With the application of hybridization between fruit species, this ancient technique of artificial selection has meant that every New Year’s Eve we can enjoy the grape variety that best suits our preferences.
