STUDY OF THE ACETALDEHYDE INDUCED POLYMERIZATION OF FLAVAN-3-OLS BY LIQUID-CHROMATOGRAPHY ION-SPRAY MASS-SPECTROMETRY

In some fruits, the loss of astringency has been attributed to the ins olubilization of recombinated tannins, formed by reaction with acetald ehyde. This route has been investigated by on-line coupling of liquid chromatography with ion spray mass spectrometry (LC-ISP-MS). The resul ts reported herein indicate that LC-ISP-MS can be successfully applied to tannin polymers and is very helpful in their identification. It al so allows direct monitoring of the progress of polymerisation reaction s. The mechanism of the acetaldehyde-induced polymerisation of flavan- 3-ols has thus been demonstrated.