Is hydrogen peroxide generated in wine?

Abstract

Wines contain significant amounts of polyphenols which autoxidize upon contact with oxygen, producing hydrogen peroxide. We checked more than 40 samples of white and red wines finding, on average, production of small amounts of hydrogen peroxide within 3 h after the wines had contacted with air, though some samples did not produce detectable amounts of H2O2. The increase in hydrogen peroxide concentration after 3-h incubation of wines after opening ranged from −3.09 to 6.60 μM. Wines showed also the ability of hydrogen peroxide scavenging, which can be partly attributed to sulfite. Thus, the measured net production of hydrogen peroxide in wine is a result of the actual production and scavenging of hydrogen peroxide.