The French paradox - do wine phenolics protect health? Part l: Wine phenolics

In spite of the same risk factors such as increased serum cholesterol, hype rtension, high body mass index and smoking, the mortality for coronary hear t disease in France is lower than in other industrialized countries in Euro pe and the United States. This phenomenon is called French Paradox. In sear ch for an explanation, the following groups of wine phenolics and their mai n compounds (in parentheses) were identified: Hydroxycinnamic acids (caffei c acid), hydroxybenzoic acids (gallic acid), flavonols (quercetin), anthocy anidines (malvidin), catechins ((+)-catechin), proanthocyanidines (B-procya nidines) and resveratrols (trans-isomere). All these substances are derived from cinnamic acid and frequently occur as conjugates with sugars and/or a cids. Anthocyanins show species specific patterns. Both anthocyanins and fl avonol glycosides are absent in white wine which contains only a tenth (abo ut 250 mg/L) of the total phenolics detectable in red wine (2000-2500 mg/L) . The catechins quantitatively predominate in each case. Quality and quanti ty of wine phenolics depend not only on the composition of grapes but also on the technology of wine production and storage.