1.1 Introduction
A grape is a fruit, botanically a berry, of the deciduous woody vines of the flowering plant genus Vitis. Grapes can be eaten fresh as table grapes or they can be used for making wine, jam, grape juice, jelly, grape seed extract, raisins, vinegar, and grape seed oil. Grapes are a non- climatic type of fruit, generally occurring in clusters. Grapes are a non-Climatic type of fruit, generally occurring in clusters. The cultivation of the domesticated grape began 6,000–8,000 years ago in the Near East. Yeast is one of the earliest domesticated microorganisms, occurs naturally on the skins of grapes, leading to the discovery of alcoholic drinks such as wine. It is very important fruits and give more income to farmers than the other crops. The cultivation of the domesticated grape began 6,000–8,000 years ago in the Near East.
As a prelude to other parts of this study, this chapter will discuss the background upon which this study was initiated, the statement of problems that led to this study, the Aim and Objectives of the study. Others are Significance of the study, Scope of work, Research questions, Limitations of the Study and Definition of technical terms.
1.2 Background of Study
In the past decade interest on the topic of antimicrobial plant extracts has been growing. Use of herbal medicines in Asia represents a long history of human interactions with the environment. Plants used for traditional medicine contain a wide range of substances that can be used to treat chronic as well as infectious diseases. A vast knowledge of how to use the plants against different illnesses may be expected to have accumulated in areas where the use of plants is still of great importance. The medicinal value of plants lies in some chemical sub- stances that produce a definite physiological action on the human body. The most important of these bioactive compounds of plants are alkaloids, flavanoids, tannins and phenolic compounds (Abtahi et al., 2008).
Grape is one of the most widely grown fruit crops in the world. Grape juice jams and raisins are also important commodities in the market of the whole world. Numerous studies focused on the health-promoting and antioxidant effects of grapes. Interest in the health benefits of muscadines has increased due to their high phenolics contents. Most phenolics inmuscadines are located in the seeds (Poudel et al., 2008).
In European countries the government mostly focuses on this fruit while in developing countries the program for grape is very slow, so it is the duty of every government in the world to spend more money on grape for enhancing grape industries in the developing countries. They are very poor and they have no access to credit and because of less money they did not start the grape program on their farm.
Ancient Egyptian hieroglyphics record the cultivation of purple grapes, and history attests to the ancient Greeks, Phoenicians, and Romans growing purple grapes both for eating and wine production. The growing of grapes would later spread to other regions in Europe, as well as North Africa, and eventually in North America. In North America, native grapes belonging to various species of the genus Vitis proliferate in the wild across the continent, and were a part of the diet of many Native Americans, but were considered by early European colonists to be unsuitable for wine.
In the 19th century, Ephraim Bull of Concord, Massachusetts, cultivated seeds from wild Vitis labrusca vines to create the Concord grape which would become an important agricultural crop in the United States. Grapes are a type of fruit that grow in clusters of 15 to 300, and can be crimson, black, dark blue, yellow, green, orange, and pink.
Grapes are actually green in color, and are evolutionarily derived from the purple grape. Mutations in two regulatory genes of white grapes turn off production of antho cyanins, which are responsible for the color of purple grapes. Anthocyanins and other pigment chemicals of the larger family of polyphenols in purple grapes are responsible for the varying shades of purple in red wines. Grapes are typically an ellipsoid shape resembling a prolate spheroid. Raw grapes are 81% water, 18% carbohydrates, 1% protein, and have negligible fat. A 100 gram reference amount of raw grapes supplies 69 calories and a moderate amount of vitamin K (14% of the Daily Value), with no other micronutrients in significant content. Most grapes come from cultivars of Vitis vinifera, the European grapevine native to the Mediterranean and Central Asia.
Grapes are a waste product derived from thinning, that is, the green pruning practice carried out to improve the size and composition of both table grapes and grapes for high-quality red wine production (Guidoni et al. 2008). Normally, the thinned grapes are abandoned in the field and left to rot. Unripe grapes are a promising waste product, however, because they have not already been exploited to make wine or juice and therefore still contain all their endogenous nutrients and biologically active com- pounds. In general, the composition of grapes varies according to several factors, such as cultivar, vintage and ripening stage (Adams 2006, Mattivi et al. 2006).
Therefore, in Nigeria where the research was carried out, the activities that was conducted is to know the Evaluation of Antimicrobial Efficacy of Ethanolic Extract of Grape against Selected Bacteria Strains.
1.3 Statement of Problems
Investigation revealed that grape has some essential elements which play great role in health problems. From grapes wines are prepared which give more income to European countries. It needs very less water till maturity. It has two types namely table grapes and non table grapes in the world. It also helps in diabetes and blood pressures while play great role in heart problems.
1.4 Aim and Objectives of Study
The aim of the study is to evaluate the Antimicrobial Efficacy of Ethanolic Extract of Grape against Selected Bacteria Strains. In achieving this aim, the following specific objectives were laid out as follows:
- To examine the differences of grape growing between tropical climate belt and temperate climate belt; and
- To measure the antibacterial activity of ethanol extract of total grape against several pathogenic bacteria.
1.5 Research Questions
The study came up with research questions so as to be able to ascertain the above stated objectives. The specific research questions for the study are stated below as follows:
- What are the differences of grape growing between tropical climate belt and temperate climate belt?
- What is the antibacterial activity of ethanol extract of total grape against several pathogenic bacteria?
1.6 Significance of Study
This study will be of immense benefit to researchers who intend to know more on this study and can also be used by non-researchers to build more on their research work. This study contributes to knowledge and could serve as a guide for other study.
1.7 Scope of Study
The scope of the research is focused on the Evaluation of Antimicrobial Efficacy of Ethanolic Extract of Grape against Selected Bacteria Strains.
1.8 Limitations of the Study
During the course of this study, many things militated against its completion, some of which are:
- Time Constraint: The time frame given to accomplish this project was very short due to school academic calendar and it was carried out under pressure which made the researcher not to implement some necessary features.
- Research material: availability of research material is a major setback to the scope of the study.
- Frequent power failure: This made the researcher append more money on fuel to ensure sustainable power.
- Financial Constraint: Insufficient fund tends to impede the efficiency of the researcher in sourcing for the relevant materials, literature or information and in the process of data collection (internet, questionnaire and interview).
