IDENTIFICATION AND QUANTITATION OF HYDROXYTYROSOL IN ITALIAN WINES

Hydroxytyrosol (HTy) is a potent natural antioxidant found in olive oi l and in mill waste waters. Although wines are rich in polyphenols, hy droxytyrosol has not been identified in wines so far. We have analyzed ten nines from different grape varieties grown in several Italian reg ions, using a gas-chromatograph coupled to a mass selective detector ( GC-MS). Solid-phase extraction of wine samples was performed on a C18 column, with ethyl acetate used as eluting agent. Eluates were derivat ized with bis(trimethylsilyl)trifluoroacetamide (BSTFA) and analyzed b y GC-MS using one target and two qualifying ions. The detection limit was 15 pg/mu L, with 49% average recovery. Under these experimental co nditions hydroxytyrosol was detected in all wines analyzed, Its averag e concentrations in red and white wines were 4.0 mg/L and 1.9 mg/L, re spectively,