Grape juice (raw?, organic?)

Grape juice (sweet grape must) is made from the berries of red or white grapes ( Vitis vinifera).

Use in the kitchen

Freshly pressed grape juice (organic) can be drunk neat or mixed with other vegetable and fruit juices. There is red and white grape juice, which is either filtered or naturally cloudy. Grape juice enriched with vitamins is also available. Partially fermented grape juice, ie which is undergoing alcoholic fermentation, can occasionally be bought in autumn. It is available with different alcohol contents (1.5% to 11% vol.). Regional names include Sauser, Sturm, Federweisser, Federroter and Bitzler. Fermented grape juice with a high alcohol content and longer storage is called wine ( red wine, white wine). There are also special dessert wines such as port and sherry.

You can use grape juice to make delicious slushies (semi-frozen drinking ice cream) and sorbets. To do this, freeze the flesh of watermelon,raspberries or strawberries and puree the frozen pieces in a blender with the same amount of grape juice. Sweeten with agave syrup if desired. When cooking and baking, sweet grape juice can be used as a natural coloring agent. It is an alcohol-free alternative tored wine in dishes such as apple and red cabbage or gravy.

Making your own grape juice

Raw grape juice is easy to make. It is best to use a juicer that works slowly and without heating so as not to destroy the nutrients in the grapes. Wash the organic grapes thoroughly and remove the stems. Then put the grapes into the juicer one by one. The raw grape juice can be stored in a closed bottle in the refrigerator for two to three days. Alternatively, you can heat the grapes with a little water in a pan until the skin of the grapes bursts and the juice comes out. Allow the grape mass to cool. Place a fine-mesh sieve over a pan and strain the grape mass through it. It is best to collect the juice in a second pan. If necessary, filter the juice through a gauze cloth to obtain clear grape juice. If you want to preserve as much juice and nutrients as possible, a juicer is preferable. Heating the grapes destroys heat-sensitive vitamins.

For a longer shelf life, you can either freeze the juice in stand-up pouches or preserve it. To do this, pasteurize or preserve the grape juice.

Vegan recipe for a refreshing matcha grape juice drink

Ingredients (for 4 people): 8 dl white grape juice, 2 tsp matcha powder (green tea), 8 ice cubes.

Preparation: Crush white grape juice, matcha powder and ice cubes using a blender or ice crusher. Serve immediately.

Vegan recipe for refreshing grape juice punch

Ingredients (for 4 people): 100 ml cherry juice, 1 peach, handful ofblueberries, 500 ml white grape juice, 300 ml ice-cold carbonated mineral water, 200 ml ice-cold apple juice, ice cube tray.

Preparation: Pour the cherry juice into an ice cube tray and freeze for about 2 hours. Wash the peach, halve it, remove the stone and cut it into small cubes and divide it between four glasses. Wash the blueberries and divide them between glasses. Mix the grape juice, mineral water and apple juice and divide between glasses. Then add the cherry ice cubes and serve immediately.

Purchasing - Storage

Grape juice can usually be found in the range of large retailers such as Coop, Migros, Denner, Volg, Spar, Aldi, Lidl, Billa, Rewe, Edeka or Hofer, sometimes also in organic quality. Grape juice can also often be bought in organic supermarkets such as Denn's Biomarkt or Alnatura. Grape juice is available all year round. The grape juice available in stores is pasteurized and therefore is not raw food quality. Raw food juice must always be freshly pressed and does not keep for long, which is why you can usually only buy it in juice bars or have to make it yourself.

The availability of grape juice varies depending on the size of the store, catchment area, etc. If you are interested, click on our recorded food prices for the DA-CH countries (above under the ingredient image). There you will find current prices from various supermarkets and their price development.

Storage tips

Fresh grape juice can be stored in a closed bottle in the refrigerator for two to three days.

Ingredients - Nutritional values - Calories

Freshly pressed grape juice (organic) contains 60 kcal per 100 g. The protein content is low at 0.37 g/100g and there is hardly any fat either at 0.13 g/100g. It contains 15 g/100 g carbohydrates, of which 14 g is sugar. The fiber content is 0.2 g/100 g. ¹

Compared to other juices, grape juice contains a lot of calories and sugar. Apple juice contains 46 kcal and 9.6 g of sugar per 100 g. Orange juice has 45 kcal and 8.4 g of sugar. Carrot juice has only 40 kcal and 3.9 g of sugar. ¹

Grape juice contains various minerals and vitamins, as well as valuable bioactive substances such as polyphenols and flavonoids. 100 g of grape juice contains 0.24 mg of manganese, which is comparable to raisins (0.30 mg/100g). In contrast, grapes contain little manganese at 0.07 mg/100g. American muscadine grapes contain a lot of manganese (2.0 mg/100g). ¹

Potassium is also included, but only at 104 mg/100g, which corresponds to 5.0% of the daily requirement. The content is comparable to red wine (127 mg) and grapes (191 mg). Raisins contain a lot of potassium. The 749 mg/100g cover 37.0% of the daily requirement. ¹

Grape juice also contains small amounts of fluorine, magnesium and iron. ¹ Grape juice can also be found enriched with ascorbic acid (vitamin C) and calcium.

The complete ingredients of grape juice, the coverage of the daily requirement and comparison values with other ingredients can be found in our nutrient tables. In the article Nutrients explained you will get a detailed insight into the topic.

Effects on health

Grape juice contains many bioactive substances, including polyphenols such as flavonoids, anthocyanins and stilbenes. ^5,13 These are considered antioxidants and have anti-inflammatory and anti-carcinogenic properties. Resveratrol is one of the stilbenes that is present in grapes, grape juice, red wine and white wine and has anti-cancer effects. ⁵ Since 2016, a synthetic variant of resveratrol has been approved as a dietary supplement. ¹⁰ The content of resveratrol in grape juice varies. Some industrially produced grape juice contains very little resveratrol, as this decreases through filtration and clarification. ⁹

Consumption of grape juice appears to have a positive effect on cholesterol and blood sugar levels. Studies show that consumption of the juice increases HDL levels, which reduces the risk of cardiovascular disease. ⁷ Although grape juice contains a lot of sugar, consumption led to a reduction in fasting blood sugar. However, no effect on blood pressure levels could be found from the consumption of grape juice. ^7,11

Ascorbic acid (vitamin C) helps increase the bioavailability of iron, which is why orange and lemon juice promote iron absorption. Studies show that red grape juice, although it also contains ascorbic acid, has less effect than other juices. In an in vitro study, white grape juice was shown to increase the bioavailability of iron. This is probably due to the lower polyphenols in white grape juice. Polyphenols bind iron and thus lead to reduced absorption. From a nutritional point of view, grape juice should therefore not be consumed with iron-containing foods so as not to inhibit their absorption. ^7,8

Information on OPC (oligomeric proanthocyanidins) can be found under the ingredient grape seed oil.

Dangers - Intolerances - Side effects

Allergic reactions to grapes and grape juice are rare, but can cause severe allergic reactions in sensitive patients. The main allergen in grapes reacts to the main allergen in peach, which is why people with a grape allergy can also react to peach and vice versa. ^4,15

Grape juice contains fructose, so people with fructose intolerance may need to avoid it.

Drinking grape juice can support an otherwise healthy and balanced diet. However, juice should only be consumed occasionally and not in large quantities. 1 liter of grape juice contains 600 kcal and 140 g of sugar. ¹ Vegetable juices are preferable to fruit juices as they contain less sugar. The daily consumption of large quantities of fruit and/or vegetable juice and smoothies should be avoided. The exception is as part of a time-limited juice cure (fasting cure).

Ecological footprint - animal welfare

The ecological CO ₂ footprint of grape juice depends on the country of origin of the grapes processed, the cultivation method and of course the individual processing steps and sales. On average, 0.4 kg CO ₂ eq is generated per kilogram of grapes produced, the amount of emissions produced for grape juice is most likely slightly higher due to the additional work steps and packaging. ¹⁶ The amount of water required to produce 1 kg of grape juice is 675 liters of water, only about half as much as to produce 1 kg of apple juice (1141 liters/kg). ¹⁷ However, this is a particularly big problem in countries that are already struggling with water shortages due to climatic conditions and have to resort to artificial irrigation to irrigate the grapes (for example Italy). ¹⁹

Since grapes from conventional agriculture often contain residues of pesticides or herbicides ¹⁸, it is ideal to buy grape juice from organic production.

Worldwide occurrence - cultivation

Grape juice is made from the berries of the grapevine, using different varieties. The grapevine Vitis vinifera ssp. vinifera originally comes from the Middle East. Today, grapes are grown worldwide. Along with the cultivation of the grapevine, knowledge of how to make grape juice, red wine and white wine is also spreading. ³

For information on growing and harvesting grapes, see the following links: Noble Grape Vine and Muscadine Grapes.

Industrial production

Fruit juices consist of 100% juice. Fruit nectar, on the other hand, can be diluted with water and sweetened with sugar or honey. Most fruit juices consist of fruit juice concentrate diluted with water. Juice that is bottled immediately after pressing or after pasteurization is called direct juice. However, the term is not legally defined. ¹²

Industrial grape juice production is carried out either by mechanical cold pressing or hot pressing. The mash is often also treated with pectolytic enzymes, which break down the cell walls of the grapes so that more polyphenols and colorants (anthocyanins) get into the juice. Microwave and ultrasound treatments are also increasingly used to increase the juice and nutrient yield. ¹³

Cold pressing is carried out using mechanical processes, in which the grape mash is extracted by pressing, grinding and squeezing. To do this, the grape mash is cooled and mixed with sulphur dioxide to inhibit oxidative enzymes and undesirable microorganisms. The pectolytic enzymes are then mixed in. ¹³

In hot pressing, the pectolytic enzymes are added to the crushed grapes heated to 60–62 °C and left to work in the grape mash for 30–60 minutes. Another thermal process uses steam pressing to break down the cell walls and press the juice out of the fruit. This process results in a very high content of polyphenols and anthocyanins in the grape juice. This process eliminates the need for further pasteurization and the fruit juices have a long shelf life. Steam extraction is used industrially on a small and medium scale. ¹⁴

The must is then clarified (this is not necessary for naturally cloudy juice) and pasteurized. Depending on the processing, fining agents such as bentonite or pectinases are used to improve self-clarification and filtration. Ascorbic acid (vitamin C) is added as an antioxidant to extend the shelf life.

Since the juice is partially heated or pasteurized during industrial production, the grape juice is usually not of raw food quality.

Further information

Mostly grapes from the noble vine ( Vitis vinifera subsp. vinifera) are used, less often muscadine grapes ( Vitis rotundifolia Michx., syn. Muscadinia rotundifolia Simpson ex Munson) or Concord grapes ( Vitis labrusca L.).

Alternative names

Grape juice is also called grape sweet must or grape must. The English name is grape juice.