VARIETAL DIFFERENCES IN THE PHENOLIC CONTENT AND SUPEROXIDE RADICAL SCAVENGING POTENTIAL OF WINES FROM DIFFERENT SOURCES

Thirty-one wine samples differing in their-origin of production and vi ntages were analyzed for total phenolic content, total and free sulfur dioxide contents, and superoxide radical scavenging potentials. The p olyphenol content of red wine ranged from 735.9 to 2858 ppm, and that of white wine was in the range 259.4-720.5 ppm. Total sufur dioxide co ntent ranged from 21.9 to 270.7 ppm, and had no correlation to the col or of the wine: Superoxide radical scavenging activity values ranged f rom 39.3 to 215.9 units/mL for the white wine, and those of red variet ies were similar to 5-10 times higher. No correlation was observed bet ween the free and total sulfur dioxide contents in the different wine samples tested and their superoxide radical scavenging activity values . A direct correlation between the color of the wine (r = 0.7517), its phenolic content (r = 0.9908), and the ability of the wine constituen ts to scavenge superoxide radical was, however, established by a simpl e regression analysis.