Viral Video Shows Ancient Grape-preservation Technique Used In Afghanistan
The now-viral video, shared by Twitter user Saud Faisal Malik, shows the traditional method of preserving grapes. The post's caption explains: "This is grape preservation technique is from pre historic Afghanistan, where grapes are preserved in clay and stay fresh for a year and sometimes years."
We live in technologically-advanced times but in some ways, still manage to keep up our older ways of living. A video has surfaced from Afghanistan that shows how grapes can be preserved for months, even years, by using an age-old technique of storing them in clay pots.
The now-viral video, shared by Twitter user Saud Faisal Malik, shows the traditional method of preserving grapes. The post's caption explains: "This is grape preservation technique is from prehistoric Afghanistan, where grapes are preserved in clay and stay fresh for a year and sometimes years."
This is grape preservation technique is from pre historic Afghanistan, where grapes are preserved in clay and stay fresh for a year and sometimes years. pic.twitter.com/bN4BOs6plB
¡ª Saud Faisal Malik (@SaudObserver) April 16, 2022
The clip shows a street fruit-seller with a cart full of clay pots. At first glance, someone who is not aware of the concept would not believe that the man is selling grapes. But upon further inspection, you will find out that the sealed clay pots are actually holding grapes inside them.
The video shows the man picking up one of the clay pots, and keeping it on the floor. Then, he takes a stone to hit the pot which leads to it cracking open and displaying fresh grapes covered in clay dust.
Twitter
The grapes are fully-intact and the man breaks another clay pot to show how consistent this preservation technique is.
Ever since the video was shared on the microblogging website on April 17, it has amassed 2.3 million views, 96,000 likes, over 1.8 lakh retweets, and 1,888 quote tweets.
Twitter
Explaining how the technique manages to preserve the grapes for such long periods of time, the Instagram account @archaeohistories by Dr Mohammad Firoz Khan shared how it works. Sharing the video, the caption read, "In Afghanistan, the grapes are stored for up to six months, kept fresh in airtight mud-straw containers. Afghans developed this method of food preservation, which uses mud-straw containers and is known as kangina, centuries ago in Afghanistan's rural north."
It explained further, "According to Associate Prof Jean Hunter of Cornell University, ¡°From a food science perspective this would be considered passive controlled-atmosphere storage. Grapes and other fruits are composed of living cells which use oxygen and produce carbon dioxide and water vapour."
"Slow gas diffusion through the clay envelope supplies enough oxygen to keep the grapes alive, while the high CO2 concentration inside the package inhibits their metabolism and suppresses fungal growth. Water vapour loss is also slowed by diffusion, keeping the grapes from drying out, while the clay and straw presumably absorb any liquid water which would promote bacterial spoilage. Really interesting technology," it concluded.
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