Wine Polyphenols

This book provides new insights into the effect of phenolic compounds present in wine on the prevention of spoilage by undesirable lactic acid bacteria and aims to establish a possible relationship between the chemical structure of phenolic compounds and the observed antimicrobial activity. First, the fraction of low molecular weight phenolic compounds was isolated from commercial red wines from the region of Salta and Tucumán and their content of phenolic compounds was qualitatively and quantitatively characterized. Then, the effect of these phenolic fractions and phenolic compounds individually or in combination on the viability of bacteria isolated from wines of the same region was determined. The effect on cell integrity was also evaluated by Transmission Electron Microscopy, histamine and exopolysaccharide production. From the results obtained, a qualitative Structure-Activity Relationship study was performed.