Grape juice: how useful and how to cook it?

People began to prepare and use grape juice from deep antiquity. It was believed that he gives the soldiers strength, and women beauty.Fresh juice (freshe) contains a huge amount of useful substances. It is used to quench thirst, as a drug in the treatment of many diseases. You can make preparations for the winter. As well as juice, pressed berries and grape seeds are widely used in cosmetology.

The effects on the human body, the benefits and some contraindications of the use of grapes are studied by doctors and scientists all over the world.

Before you start drinking grape juice, it is useful to find out about some of its properties. According to the content of vitamins, various trace elements, antioxidants, this berry takes one of the first places. The taste and aroma of a drink largely depends on the place of growth of the vine, as well as the climatic conditions during the flowering, the formation and ripening of the berries, the degree of maturity during the harvest and the method of preparation. And also color of berries matters. The most useful drink is considered to be of dark colored varieties.

The benefits of the juice from the grapes are due to such substances as:

• B vitamins contribute to the normalization of the nervous system;
• glucose and fructose in conjunction with minerals and omega-3 acids, they improve brain function, stimulate mental activity, give courage, raise the mood and general tone of the body;
• tannins help the stomach and intestines digest and absorb food better, prevent the appearance and development of various inflammatory processes in the digestive system;
• antioxidants and amino acids improve the condition of skin, hair, nails and bone tissue, maintain youth and beauty;
• bioflavonoids, acting as a brush, remove all kinds of slags, toxins and toxic compounds from the body;
• via organic acids (formic, apple, amber, wine) metabolism in the body is accelerated, the food eaten is not stored in the form of fat, but converted into useful energy; thus, despite the high calorie content, grape juice helps to reduce weight;
• thanks to the increased content gland natural juice copes with a disease such as anemia;
• magnesium supports at the proper level the protective functions of the body, strengthens the immune system;
• potassium helps to establish the correct and uninterrupted work of the cardiovascular and urinary systems;
• in addition, the juice in small quantities contains very important for normal life trace elements for example, such as manganese, phosphorus, zinc, boron;
• presence in the drink folic acid contributes to the proper development of the future child, so it can be drunk pregnant, but only in the early stages.

There are different opinions on whether grape juice is good for eye health. In any case, since it strengthens the immune system and maintains the body tone, there will be no harm. Traditional healers advise to treat eye diseases with vine juice. It is collected in the spring, during sap flow. In the berry season it is very useful to use fresh, freshly squeezed juice.

In order to maintain their health all year round, make a concentrated drink. The concentrate is used in cooking, based on it they prepare oriental sweets, as well as some sauces. When wringing out, pulp and grape seeds remain. At home, they can be used to make masks and lotions. Skin and hair after such procedures will be filled with radiance and vitality.

Despite the fact that grape juice is a completely natural product, its use for medicinal purposes has a number of limitations. So, it should not be drunk with the following diseases:

• diabetes, because the juice contains a large amount of sugars;
• gastric ulcer, gastritis and other serious diseases of the digestive system, especially in the acute stage;
• it is necessary to limit the use of grape juice with kidney problems, swelling, a tendency to overweight;
• One of the serious contraindications is a diagnosis of heart disease;
• Acids and sugars in the drink can damage tooth enamel if over consumed, which can lead to the development and development of caries; To avoid this, after taking the juice you need to rinse your mouth with clean water.

Grape juice is contraindicated in the last months of pregnancy, as the future baby and mom are gaining excess weight, which can lead to serious complications during childbirth. During breastfeeding it is also better to refuse this drink, because the child may have an upset stomach, bloating and flatulence, various manifestations of allergic reactions (rash, redness, itching) are possible.

The most useful and tasty is a freshly made grape drink. Unfortunately, this is a seasonal product. To enjoy this elixir of health all winter long, it is worth making preparations. At home, the juice is prepared in different ways.

This name speaks for itself. The juice of the grapes squeeze directly with your hands or with a hand press. Moreover, the technology of cooking varies somewhat depending on the variety. For example, from the Cabernet variety (its berries have a dark color) the juice is most often made, since when it is squeezed, a lot of liquid and very little pulp is obtained. The process consists of the following steps:

• first harvested ripe berries are washed, sorted, removed leaves and twigs are removed;
• then crushed using wooden powder, meat grinder or blender;
• the resulting mass is poured into a saucepan and boil on low heat for five minutes;
• after that filter through a fine sieve or gauze;
• prepared juice is poured into cans and sterilized for 15–20 minutes, rolled up.

And from the reddish berries of the variety "Lydia" the juice turns out to be very rich, it has a tart-sweet taste. Before sterilization, it can be diluted with boiled water in a ratio of one to two. From green varieties, for example, "Bianca", it turns out sugary-sweet and concentrated juice, which requires mandatory dilution. Mixed with water, it gets a delicate, exquisite taste. Table variety "Delight" gives an excellent sweet and sour drink, which is also suitable for long-term storage.

Crushed berries of light, green varieties are squeezed and filtered immediately, pulp from dark grapes must first be heated (up to about +65 degrees), then cooled to room temperature and then filtered.

This is the most common method of obtaining the elixir. The liquid obtained as a result of spinning does not need additional straining. It is simply poured into jars or bottles, sterilized and corked.

Using a juice cooker is the least time consuming method. The collected berries only need to be washed and, without separating from the twigs, put them in clusters directly in clusters. They are mixed from time to time. The finished product is packaged in cans. Nothing more needs to be done.

It happens that during storage grape juice becomes cloudy, a precipitate appears in it. Nothing wrong with that, it happens during long-term storage. Just need to perform a filtering or clarification procedure. Filtering is as follows:

• banks are printed, the juice is carefully poured into a clean pan, while trying not to hurt the sediment;
• then the liquid is again poured into clean cans, pasteurized for 15–20 minutes and rolled again.

To prevent turbidity, the juice is clarified during harvesting. For this, a fresh drink is poured into a glass dish and left in a cool place for twenty hours. Then the liquid must be carefully poured into another container. At the same time make sure not to fall sediment. Put on a weak fire, heated to a temperature of +90 degrees, sterilized for ten minutes. Hot juice is poured into glass jars, rolled up and again put in a cool place for four days. After this time, uncorked, again drained from the sediment, sterilized, rolled.

No need to be upset if during storage the product began to ferment. You just need to immediately process it into wine.

See how to make grape juice in the next video.