The extremely versatile fruit grapes are plump, juicy and naturally sweet. People of all age groups love to dive into their ecstatic taste. They generally come in three different colours – green, red and black. Grapes taste great both in sweet and savoury dishes by adding a burst of juicy and fresh flavour. Besides having a great luscious taste, their health benefits are also incredible.

Grapes are a rich source of vitamin A, C, B6 and folate. They also contain essential minerals like potassium, calcium and iron. Grapes are also packed with phytonutrients such as resveratrol which are believed to play a role in longevity. Here are top eight reasons why you need to add grapes in your diet:

Strengthen immune system: The resveratrol found in grapes boost immunity. It is an immune-boosting antioxidant that plays key roles in immune system health.

Help control cancer: Grapes are a potent source of resveratrol, an antioxidant that has the potential to possibly stop certain cancers including breast, liver and stomach.

Controls blood pressure: Grapes are packed with potassium, a mineral that helps maintain healthy blood pressure.

Heart-friendly: Grapes especially red grapes are very heart-friendly due to their high amount of antioxidant and fiber content. They reduce blood-triglyceride levels, LDL cholesterol levels, heart muscle damage and improved blood vessel function.

Eye-friendly: Being rich in antioxidants, grapes help protect healthy cells from DNA damage and counter damage from oxidative stress to preserve retinal structure and function.

Skin-friendly: Grapes contain high amount of vitamin C and vitamin E which rejuvenate skin cells and hydrate the skin. Eating grapes regularly increases elasticity of skin and helps make it healthy and glowing.

Provide healthy hair: The seeds found in grapes contain antioxidants which encourage hair growth and prevent hair-loss. Grape seed oil can be used to make your hair healthy. Grapes are themselves very beneficial for hair as they are full of vitamins, minerals, antioxidants and water content.

Good for detoxification: Grapes help in cleansing the body and flushing out toxic and chemical waste from intestines.

Need more? How about homemade grape juice, jelly and jam. Besides eating the fruit fresh and raw from the bunch, grapes are great to add in salads and smoothies or eaten frozen as a snack on their own. They are so good! The health benefits of grapes are very impressive, so eat them up!

While buying and storing grapes, take care of few things to ensure that you are choosing the best quality in all respects and increasing their shelf life.

Choose grapes which are plump and not shrivelled.

They should have a consistent colour throughout. Their stems should be fresh and green.

Always store them in a container with good circulation in refrigerator.

You can also freeze grapes and use them as ice cubes which would not dilute your drink.

You can also cook and bake with frozen grapes.

Try snack on them straight from the freezer, they taste amazing!