Following a post by John Silver
Post by John SilverIs there any way of finding the wines with the highest flavonoids.
Food Unwrapped had a feature on it without giving much information
except for a recommendation for Nebbiolo made by De Forville.
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/12074969
John
It seems dark heavy reds are best, as you might think, it seems to be
dependant on the winemaking technique, so general rules will not be
great guides -
<http://www.frenchscout.com/polyphenols#polyphenols>
<http://www.amazon.co.uk/Wine-Professor-Roger-Corder-MRPharmS/dp/0751542016/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1392198698&sr=1-1&keywords=the+red+wine+diet>
OPCs depend on winemaking
OPCs are essentially polymer chains of flavonoids. These procyanidins
are the most abundant flavonoid polyphenols in red wine up to one
gram per litre is found in some traditional style red wines.
Repartition is discussed below.
Dr. Roger Corder is an author of many scientific papers detailing his
research into the flavonoids of foods, but wine in particular. He
summarized his findings in a 2007 book, The Red Wine Diet. Dr.
Corder's compilation is a good discussion of flavonoids in foods and
wines. Although it would have been more entertaining if peppered with
more wit and humans interest, given the topic, its straightfoward,
semi-academic telling of the story makes his points effectively.
Among the important observations Corder makes is that regions of the
world with the greatest longevity also correspond to regions with the
highest procyanidin flavonoids in their wines. Regarding the variable
flavonoid content of various wines, he states:
"Although differences in the amount of procyanidins in red wine
clearly occur because of the grape variety and the vineyard
environment, the winemaker holds the key to what ends up in the
bottle. The most important aspect of the winemaking process for
ensuring high procyanidins in red wines is the contact time between
the liquid and the grape seeds during fermentation when the alcohol
concentration reaches about 6 percent. Depending on the fermentation
temperature, it may be two to three days or more before this
extraction process starts. Grape skins float and seeds sink, so the
number of times they are pushed down and stirred into the fermenting
wine also increases extraction of procyanidins. Even so, extraction is
a slow process and, after fermentation is complete, many red wines are
left to macerate with their seeds and skins for days or even weeks in
order to extract all the color, flavor, and tannins. Wines that have a
contact time of less than seven days will have a relatively low level
of procyanidins. Wines with a contact time of 10 to 14 days have
decent levels, and those with contact times of three weeks or more
have the highest."
He points out that deeply-colored reds are more likely to be richer in
procyanidins. Wines rich in procyanidins provide several-fold more,
such that a single glass can provide the same purported health benefit
as several glasses of a procyanidin-poor wine.
Varietals and OPC
So how do various wines stack up in procyanidin content? Here's an
abbreviated list from Corder's book, The Red Wine Diet:
Australia tend to be low, except for Australian Cabernet Sauvignon
which is moderate.
Chile only Cabernet Sauvignon stands out, then only moderate in
content.
France Where to start? The French, of course, are the perennial
masters of wine, and prolonged contact with skins and seeds is usually
taken for granted in many varieties of wine. French wines are better
designated by region, rather than by variety of grape. Each wine
region can vary widely in flavonoid content:
Bordeaux red wines rate moderately;
Burgundy red wines low to moderate;
Languedoc-Roussillon red wines moderate to high (and many great
bargains);
Rhone red wines (Côtes du Rhône) moderate to high.
Malbec and tannat seem to be the varieties with the most OPC.
Italy Much red Italian wine is made from the sangiovese grape and
called variously Chianti, Valpolicella, and "super-Tuscan" when
blended with other varietals. Corder rates the southern Italian wines
from Sicily, Sardinia, and the mainland as high in procyanidins; most
northern varieties are moderate.
Spain Moderate in general.
United States Cabernet Sauvignon is the standout for procyanidin
content.
Other stuff:-
"The flavonoids and polyphenols found in four different types of
chocolate (white, milk, 40% cocoa dark and 71% cocoa dark) and four
varieties of red wine (Pinot-Noir, Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot and
Tannat) were evaluated. The best results were found using 71% cocoa
dark chocolate (D71) (flavonoids = 21.6 ± 2.4 ?mol of catechin
equivalents/g and polyphenols = 62.9 ± 0.1 ?mol of catechin
equivalents/g) and Tannat wine (flavonoids = 5.4 ± 0.1 ?mol of
catechin equivalents/ml and polyphenols = 14.3 ± 1.1 ?mol of catechin
equivalents/ml) which were statistically different against other
varieties. Vanillin flavour was shown to interfere with colour
development in the spectrophotometric analysis of the flavonoids. The
results indicated that 49 g of D71 dark chocolate has the same
quantity of flavonoids as that of 196 ml of Tannat wine, which is the
daily wine intake recommended to produce health benefits in an adult
of 70 kg body weight."
So "tannat" looks good
" The amount of catechins present varies among grape varieties with
varietals like Pinot noir having high concentrations while Merlot and
especially Syrah have very low levels. "
--
Mike... . . . .