Study of the retention capacity of anthocyanins by wine polymeric material

Red wine is an important source of dietary intake of phenolic compounds with antioxidant activity that are related to the prevention of cardiovascular diseases and cancer. However, information concerning their specific release from this food matrix, although necessary to predict their bioavailability along the digestive tract, is still not clear. In this work, the interactions that can occur between the red wine polymeric material and anthocyanins were studied. For this purpose, the diffusion performance of nine anthocyanins through a dialysis membrane was evaluated in the presence and absence of the wine polymeric material. For each anthocyanin, a retention coefficient was calculated. Although in different extents, all anthocyanins were retained by the wine polymeric material. The higher retention coefficient was observed for coumaroyl and acetyl derivatives when compared with the non acylated anthocyanins. It is suggested that these associations are ruled by hydrophobic interactions. These results allow the prediction of a continuous and gradual dosage of wine anthocyanins, contributing to an extension in beneficial health properties upon ingestion. (C) 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.