A total of 44 different berry and fruit wines and liquors with total p
henolic contents between 91 and 1820 mg/L, expressed as gallic acid eq
uivalents (GAE), were evaluated for antioxidant activity. Dealcoholize
d wine extracts were added to methyl linoleate (MeLo), and the oxidati
on in the dark at 40 degrees C was followed by conjugated diene measur
ement. Wines made of mixtures of black currants and crowberries or bil
berries (240-275 mu M GAE) were slightly superior to reference red gra
pe wines (330-375 mu M GAE) and equally as active as the control antio
xidant, alpha-tocopherol (50 mu M), in inhibiting MeLo hydroperoxide f
ormation. Also, raw materials including apple, arctic bramble, cowberr
ies, cranberries, red currants, or rowanberries possessed antioxidant
activity. Thus, these raw materials contain phenolic compounds, some o
f which are capable of protecting lipids against oxidation also in a h
ydrophobic lipid system. Liquors, apart from arctic bramble liquor, we
re less active than wines. However, the total phenolic content did not
correlate with the antioxidant activity of the berry and fruit wines
and liquors, therefore alleviating the importance of further character
ization of the phenolic antioxidants present in berry and fruit wines.