Fraunhofer IME

Antioxidant properties in wines from white varieties produced by traditional wine-making methods

Diaz, Cecilia
Environmental and Food Analysis Department, Fraunhofer IME , Auf dem Aberg 1,

Schmallenberg 57392, Germany. Email: cecilia.diaz@ime.fraunhofer.de

The antioxidant content of fruits and foods is closely related with inhibition of oxidative damage diseases such as coronary heart disease, stroke and cancer. With respect to wines, it is a well established fact that red wines gets its antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties due to the phenolic constituents, showing levels much higher than white wines, in fact white wines are barely mentioned in literature for having this properties, this is mainly due to the wine-making method used to their production, in which red wines has higher skin contact time than white wines, where most of the phenols are present.

In this work we evaluate and compare the antioxidant capacity and the Resveratrol content on white wines produced in traditional ways with commercial white wines; in addition some red wines were also evaluated as reference. Eighteen wines obtained from different European wineries were evaluated, and also experiments at the laboratory were conducted. The results shown clearly that white wines produced in traditional ways have higher antioxidant properties than commercial white wines, which give them an extra value for their benefits in human health. Total antioxidant status (TAS), showed in average values four times higher in wines produced in amphora’s than commercial white wines, and the same results were obtained in the total phenol content. The presence of Tannins was found only in white wines produced in amphora’s showing values similar to red wines. Resveratrol content evaluated by liquid chromatography does not showed significant differences in between the wines produced in amphora with the commercial wines, as was expected. The results from the flask fermentation conducted confirm the results obtained in the wines analysis. As conclusion, longer maceration of the grapes during the fermentation, in white wines, results in an increase in the phenolic content, conferring to wines an extra value for the potential benefits in health in a moderate consumption.