Antioxidant and anti-inflammatory activity of red and white wine extracts

Two commercially available Greek wines were treated with two different extraction methods in order to obtain either the total lipid fraction or several fractions containing different classes of phenolic compounds. Chemical determinations were performed on each fraction and their capacity to inhibit lipoxygenase activity, lipid peroxidation, catalysed by Fe2+, and their antiradical activity, using the DPPH assay, were tested. Most of the fractions act as inhibitors against lipoxygenase and also possess scavenging capacity against DPPH radical, while, only a few of them inhibit non-enzymatic lipid peroxidation. These results indicate that a fraction's antiradical activity does not necessarily correlate to its inhibitory activity against lipid peroxidation. Additionally, a fraction's total phenolic and ortho-phenolic concentration does not necessarily determine its ability to inhibit lipoxygenase and its antiradical activity. These results give information about the anti-inflammatory and antiradical effects of wine micro-constituents and support the idea that the molecular structure of phenolics rather than their amount is important for the biological activity of a wine. (C) 2009 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.