Elsevier

Food Chemistry

Volume 116, Issue 1, 1 September 2009, Pages 332-339
Food Chemistry

Phytochemical profiles and antioxidant activities of wine grapes

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.foodchem.2009.02.021Get rights and content

Abstract

Grapes are rich in phenolics, flavonoids and resveratrol, which have been suggested to be responsible for their health benefits. The concentrations of phenolic, flavonoid, anthocyanins and resveratrol of 14 grape varieties grown in the Finger Lakes area of New York State were examined. Among the varieties tested, Cabernet Franc and Pinot Noir contained the highest total phenolic content with 424.6 ± 3.8 and 396.8 ± 12.4 mg/100 g, respectively. The total flavonoid content of Pinot Noir (301.8 ± 6.2 mg/100 g) was around 3.1-fold higher than that of Baco Noir. Baco Noir had the highest resveratrol content (571 ± 30 μg/100 g) of the varieties tested. Cabernet Franc possessed the highest antioxidant activity. Total antioxidant activities of grape extracts are well correlated with total phenolic content. The proliferation of Caco-2, HepG2 and MCF-7 human cancer cells was significantly inhibited in a dose-dependent manner after exposure to Pinot Noir, Cabernet Franc, Chardonnay, Catawba, Concord, Sheridan, Niagara and Riesling. The results suggest that phytochemicals in the selected wine grapes have potent antioxidant and antiproliferative activities.

Introduction

Grapes, one of the most popular fruits and the most widely cultivated throughout the world, contain large amounts of phytochemicals including anthocyanins and resveratrol, which offer health benefits (Pezzuto, 2008). There are about 60 species of Vitis, which are mainly found in the temperate zones of the Northern Hemisphere and almost equally distributed between America and Asia (Mullins, Bouquet, & Williams, 1992). Approximately 80% of all grapes are used in winemaking, and 13% are consumed as table grapes. The Vitis vinifera grapes are commonly used for wine production around the world, principally distributed in Europe. In the United States, species such as Vitis labrusca, Vitis riparia, Vitis aestivalis, Vitis rupestris and Vitis rotundifolia are also used in wine-making. Grape phenolics, especially high in the grape peel (Singleton, 1982), are classified into two groups: the flavonoids and nonflavonoids. The flavonoids include flavan-3-ols (catechin), flavonols (quercetin) and anthocyanins. The nonflavonoids encompass hydroxybenzoates (gallic acid), hydroxycinnamates and stilbenes (resveratrol). The traditional Western diet provides roughly 1 g/day of mixed flavonoids. Besides antioxidant activity, flavonoids have many biological activities such as the inhibition of plasma platelet aggregation and cyclooxygenase activity, the suppression of histamine release and SRS-A biosynthesis in vitro, potent nitric oxide radical scavenging activity and exhibiting antibacterial, antiviral, anti-inflammatory and antiallergenic effects (Cook & Samman, 1996). In the grape berry, the flavonoids are mainly localised in the skins, such as the anthocyanins and resveratrol, while the flavan-3-ols (catechins and proanthocyanidins) are present both in the skins and in the seeds. However, the composition and concentration of phenolics in grapes vary with variety, species, season and environmental and management factors such as soil conditions, climate and crop load.

Grapes are one of the major dietary sources of anthocyanins, which are responsible for the colouring of black, red and purple grapes; however, they are lacking in white grapes. In particular, anthocyanins mostly accumulate in the skins, whereas procyandins are located in the seeds. It was found that the Lomanto and Colobel hybrid grape cultivar had the highest anthocyanin content with 603 mg/100 g; Midsouth cultivar contained the lowest content with 5.5 mg/100 g (Mazza, 1995). The anthocyanins in grape skins are predominately the 3-O-glucosides of malvidin, cyanidin, delphinidin, peonidin and petunidin (Wrolstad, 2000). Malvidin, the reddest of all anthocyanins, is the major one in dark red vinifera grapes, with higher proportions of cyanidin in red grapes. Cyanidin 3-monoglucoside and delphinidin 3-monoglucoside are the major anthocyanins in Concord grapes (Singleton, 1982). Anthocyanins possess antioxidant activity, which is considered to be an important physiological function. Additively, anthocyanins are reported to have anti-inflammatory activity, anticancer activity, apoptotic induction effect, α-glucosidase inhibition activity, vision benefits and effects on collagen, blood platelet aggregation and capillary permeability and fragility (Hou, 2003). Thus, anthocyanins, as naturally occurring bioactive compounds and pigments, have attracted interest due to their safety and health benefits.

Resveratrol (3,4′,5-trihydroxystilbene, RSV), which is synthesised by some plants in response to adverse conditions such as pathogenic attack and environmental stress, is found in various food products. It is particularly high in grape skins, seeds and in red wine. RSV was first found in grapevines (V. vinifera) in 1976 (Langcake & Pryce, 1976) and then reported in wine in 1992 (Siemann & Creasy, 1992). The ‘French Paradox’ has suggested that RSV might be the major bioactive component in red wine (Frankel, Kanner, German, Parks, & Kinsella, 1993). Thus RSV has attracted considerable attention due to its cardioprotective and cancer chemopreventive activities (Jang et al., 1997), which provide great interest in grapes, wines and dietary products containing RSV. The proposed mechanisms related to RSV’s health effects can be summarised as scavenging intracellular ROS, inhibiting the oxidation of LDL, preventing platelet aggregation, suppressing cell proliferation via steps in the signal transduction pathways, inducing apoptotic cell death through activation of mitochondria-dependent pathways, exhibiting anti-inflammatory activity via down-regulation of proinflammatory cytokines, promoting cellular differentiation, exhibiting antioestrogenic activity and inhibiting CYP1 enzymes (Chang, Chen, & Lee, 2001).

The beneficial health-related effects of phenolics in grapes are of importance to consumers, breeders and the grape industry. There is limited knowledge about the phytochemical profiles, antioxidant and antiproliferative activities in both V. vinifera and nonV. vinifera wine grapes grown in the Finger Lake area of New York State. The objectives for this study were: (1) to determine the profiles of total phenolics, total flavonoids, total anthocyanins and resveratrol in selected grapes; (2) to measure the total antioxidant activity and (3) to determine the antiproliferative activity of grape extracts against human colon, liver and breast cancer cells in vitro.

Section snippets

Materials

Sodium nitrite, (+)-catechin, Folin-Ciocalteu reagent (FCR), hydrochloric acid, glucagon, hydrocortisone, insulin, α-keto-γ-methiolbutyric acid (KMBA) and tran-RSV were purchased from Sigma Chemical Co. (St. Louis, MO). Aluminium chloride, sodium hydroxide, methanol and acetone were purchased from Fisher Scientific (Pittsburgh, PA). Gallic acid was purchased from ICN Biomedical Inc. (Costa Mesa, CA). 2,2′-Azobis (amidinopropane) (ABAP) was purchased from Wako Chemicals (Richmond, VA).

Fourteen

Total phenolic content

Total phenolic contents of 14 wine grapes are presented in Table 1. Among all the grape varieties analysed, Cabernet Franc and Pinot Noir had the highest total phenolic content (424.6 ± 3.8 and 396.8 ± 12.4 mg of gallic acid equivalents/100 g of grape, respectively), followed by Concord, Sheridan, Chancellor, Marechal Foch, Catawba, DeChaunac, Riesling, Niagara, Vidal Blanc, Baco Noir, Cayuga White and Chardonnay. Significant differences were found in total phenolic content in comparisons between

Conclusion

The oxidative stress arising from an imbalance in the human antioxidant status contributes to the pathology of chronic diseases (Ames, Shigenaga, & Hagen, 1993). Besides endogenous defenses, the consumption of dietary phenolic antioxidants contained in fruits and vegetables plays an important role in protecting against those pathological events. Previously, much attention has been paid to the antioxidant properties of ascorbic acid, tocopherol and β-carotene. In recent years, phytochemicals,

Acknowledgement

The authors thank Sharon Johnston for her technical assistance.

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