Recovery of polyphenols having beneficial biological activities from red and white grape pomace

Abstract

Grape is the world’s largest fruit crop mostly used in wine making, a process during which 20-30% of the weight ends up as pomace, that constitutes a rich but yet underutilised source of valuable compounds. Polyphenolic compounds were extracted from red and white grape pomace and the extracts were assayed for several beneficial bioactivities. Polyphenolic compounds of wet (WP) and dried (DP) grinded pomace were recovered by enzymatic digestions and ethanol-based extractions. In general, extracts from white pomace were 1.4-fold (WP) and 7.7-fold (DP) more rich of polyphenols than those from red samples [1]. Large concentrations of anthocyanins and flavanols were found respectively in red and white samples. Quantification of 28 specific compounds was carried on by HPLC-DAD. All the extracts showed antioxidant activity; the best red pomace samples exerted cholesterol-lowering capacity, while white extracts were tested for anti-inflammatory and anti-tyrosinase effects [1]. The results support the possibility of exploiting the extracts as ingredients for functional and innovative products in the nutraceutical, pharmaceutical, cosmetic or bioplastic fields.