North Carolina's muscadine grapes - sweet, tough-skinned orbs that were almost squeezed out of commercial production by wine snobs and neglect - have been rediscovered.

Wineries want them for a growing wine market, health food companies want them for extracts and health-conscious consumers want them fresh. North Carolina growers have responded by more than tripling the acreage in five years.

Jack Bishop of Columbia, a retired contractor, is planting 10 acres of muscadines on his Tyrrell County farm on the Scuppernong River -- a namesake of a well-known muscadine variety. He said his research indicated the grape industry is ripe.

"It's here for the taking," he said.

Bishop said he plans to grow several varieties, primarily for fresh markets. At present, Georgia growers grow most of the muscadines in the Southeast.

"They are, for lack of a better term, robbing the state," Bishop said.

Muscadines are grown across North Carolina, but most vineyards are in Eastern North Carolina, particularly in Duplin and Bladen counties. The grapes, indigenous to the Southeastern U.S., thrive in the hot, humid climate that some claim gives the grapes medicinal qualities.

One company that markets muscadine grape seeds says they have more healthy compounds than other much-touted foods such as blueberries, green tea, red wine and dark chocolate. Four companies in North Carolina produce extracts.

Medicinal uses

Laboratory experiments show that an extract of the skin of muscadine grapes can inhibit growth of prostate cancer cells in the laboratory, according to investigators from the National Cancer Institute, part of the National Institutes of Health. Researchers announced this summer that muscadine grape skin extract significantly inhibits the growth of abnormal prostate cells, primarily by inducing a process called apoptosis, or programmed cell death. Programmed cell death is one mechanism the body uses to rid itself of cells with unrepaired genetic damage before those cells can duplicate.

Demand stimulated by the purported health benefits of grape seeds, skin and wine has rejuvenated growers. The state's commercial muscadine acreage was about 265 acres in 1996 and rose to only 400 acres by 2002. Since then, production has jumped to 1,300 acres.

Most Tar Heel grapes are bound for wineries, where they fetch about $500 a ton. Growers usually produce about 5 to 8 tons per acre.

But promoters say the market for fresh grapes has even greater potential for growers.

Connie Fisk, a muscadine specialist with the N.C. Cooperative Extension Service in Duplin County, said growers can supply only about 20 percent of the grapes Wal-Mart alone wants.

"When people want to produce grapes, we try to steer them to the fresh market," she said.

Depending on the variety and the way they are handled and packaged, the fresh market brings about $1,400 a ton, and some say it could go to $1,600 to $2,000 a ton.

A profit of $2,000 to $3,200 an acre is about what farmers could make by growing tobacco, Fisk said.

Business 'looks good'

Although there are dozens of varieties of muscadines, commercial growers usually plant just a few. Carlos, a variety used in wine, is the most common. Scuppernong, the state fruit, is rare.

"Mostly it's just in peoples' yards at this point," Fisk said.

Bishop, who is just starting, said the Dole Food Company wanted to contract with him for all his grapes, and he also had interest from Del Monte Foods. He said he may add 10 acres next year.

"I'm a businessman, and it looks good," he said.

Bishop said he researched the industry for months before deciding to put a grape vineyard on his 300-acre farm. He said some growers are skeptical because of a bad experience in the 1970s when New York wineries did not come through with promised prices.

"Lots of places bulldozed them," he said.

Ten acres may not sound like much, but it works out to about 2,100 grape vines. Bishop's vineyard is now largely a field of treated poles stuck in the ground. This winter he will set out small grape plants and begin harvesting some in their second year.

The vineyard is taking shape about 30 miles from Roanoke Island, which is home to the so-called Mother Vine, thought to be at least 400 years old. And it won't hurt marketing to be on the banks of the Scuppernong River.

"People stop in [Columbia] all the time and ask about scuppernongs," he said.