Analysis of phenolics in wine by high performance thin-layer chromatography with gradient elution and high resolution plate imaging.

Health benefits of wine, especially with red wine, have been linked to the presence of a wide range of phenolic antioxidants. Thus, the aim of this study was to develop a simple, high performance thin layer chromatographic (HPTLC) method combined with high resolution digital plate images to visually compare multiple wine samples simultaneously on a single chromatographic plate and to quantify levels of gallic acid, caffeic acid, resveratrol and rutin, as representatives of the four different classes of phenolics found in wines. We also wanted to investigate the contribution of the investigated phenolic compounds to the total polyphenolic content (TPC) and total antioxidant capacity (TAC) of the wine samples. The average concentrations of caffeic acid, gallic acid, resveratrol, and rutin in the red wines were 2.15, 30.17, 0.59 and 2.47 mg/L respectively with their concentration below limit of quantification in the white wine samples. The highest concentration of resveratrol and rutin is found in the Cabernet and Shiraz wine samples. The amounts of gallic acid are correlated with TPC (r=0.58). Italian wines have the highest correlation between TPC and TAC (r=0.99) although they do not contain detectable amounts of resveratrol, they contain significant amount of rutin. Therefore, antioxidant properties might be associated with the presence of flavanols in these wines.