Value of high-performance liquid chromatographic analysis of anthocyanins in the differentiation of red grape cultivars and red wines made from them

A HPLC method that allows the separation of several anthocyanins present in red grapes and red wines, using a linear gradient of acetonitrile in water at pH 1.3, using perchloric acid as an acid modifier, is described. Data c learly show that the anthocyanins profile of red grapes may be complex, but quite different for each cultivar studied. Thus, those molecules may be us ed as chemotaxonomic markers for classifying red grape cultivars. However, the anthocyanin profile of red wines clearly differs from that presented by grapes employed in making it, because red wine contains a higher relative amount of malvidin-3-O-glucoside than grapes, and the relative amount of ot her anthocyanins in wines is usually lower than in grapes. Therefore, the u se of anthocyanins present in wines to determine the grape cultivar used fo r winemaking needs a careful evaluation of the influence of different techn ological procedures on the anthocyanins fingerprint. (C) 2001 Elsevier Scie nce BN. All rights reserved.