Ethno-biological and nutraceutical evaluations of selected grape cultivars from Quetta, Pishin and Bannu regions of Pakistan

Abstract

Grape is one of the 70 species of the genus vitis belonging to the fa mil y Vitaceae. Grapes are grown all over the world on a large sca le. In Paki stan it is mainl y grown in Balochi stan and Dry areas of Potohar. Almost 98% producti on of the grapes come from Balochi stan, the rest are from Khyber Pak htun khwa and Northern Areas with li tt le producti on from Punj ab. A questionnaire survey was done to find the ethno -biological va lues of grapes in Quetta, Pi shin and Bannu regions of Pak istan. Di ffe rent home gardens were surveyed for this purpose and so il was collected from each of these places. Ex perim ent plot was set in the Botanical Garden of Uni versity of Science and Technology Bannu, where cuttings coll ected from Quetta and also local cuttings from Di stri ct Bannu of di fferent cultivars were pl anted. The nutriti onal analyses were also done for 9 cul tiva rs. The res ults of ethno -biology indi cated that the cul tivar Sundarkhani was hi ghly prefe rred in the region. The producti on of Sundarkhani was also ve ry hi gh than oth ers. The income from grapes was also signifi cant. Natural fertili ze rs were rep0l1ed to be used in the stud y area for pl ants. The peopl e showed their willingness towards the cul tivati on of grapes in futur e. The soil was very suitable for th e grapes cul tivation, i. e., average pH va lue were 6.24 whi ch is required for grapes growth. The stud y from ex perim ental fi eld at Uni versity of Science and Technology Bannu proved that the hi ghest survival percentage was observed in a local cul tivar whi ch was well adapted with th e environment. For example the hi ghest number of leaves were reported from some local culti va rs tagged as local lines. The hi ghest mean va lue of leaf length was 7.575 cm. The greater mean number of nodes were reported from culti var local line I whi ch were J 3.4 in number. The nutritional analys is of grapes showed that the pH value of grape fruits lie in a range of 3.2 to 4. J, while the Electri cal conductivity value was observed to be J 21 0 ppm . The va lues fo r reducin g and non-reducing sugar were 33.33% and 55.49%, res pecti vely. The concentrati on of vitamin C record ed was 3.6 1 mg/ IOO g. The va ri eti es Sundarkhani and Kishmishi were considered best fo r cultivati on. The daily bas ic needs for fruits ca n be best fulfill ed by growin g grapes in the region. The mean va lues of so il and fruit pH were relati vely close with one another from Balochistan and Bannu, which indi cates the suitability of the environment for grapes culti vat ion.