Polyphenols content in some Italian red wines of different geographical origins

Some polyphenols were determined in 10 red wines of different geographical origins and from single and blended vineyards. The principal aim of this study was to verify the possibility of correlating the concentrating levels of these compounds to the geographical origin of wine and to use the properties of these compounds for wine qualification. An HPLC method was used to determine some flavonols (quercetin, myricetin, apigenin, kaempferol), some anthocyanins (malvidin, peonidin, petunidin, cyanidin, delphinidin), some phenolic acids (gallic, caffeic, caffeoyltartaric, p-coumaric, 2,5-di-S-glutationil-caftaric) and the trans-resveratrol. The results showed differences in the concentration levels of a single antioxidant compound ranging in mg/mL for flavonols from <0.2 (kaempferol) to 11.6 (quercetin), for anthocyanins from <0.4 (petunidin) to 139 (malvidin), for phenolic acids from 2.2 (2,5 di-S-glutationil-caftaric) to 90.5 (gallic) and for trans-resveratrol from 0.2 to 3.1. These differences are not related to the geographical origin of wines, but rather to either to ageing or vineyards. This kind of data could be useful for wine commercial qualification, as "nutritional information". (C) 2003 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.