Use of natural grape anthocyanins as color in vermouth wines

Vermouth is an aromatized and fortified wine flavored with botanicals. In red vermouth color is obtained by dyeing with caramel. Color can be improved by using natural grape anthocyanins. Natural anthocyanins give to this product a better color and at the same time increase the contents of flavonoid pigments with positive repercussion on health. The anthocyanins have been obtained from grapes after an extraction procedure using acidic water as solvent and also with physical assistance by ultrasounds. Also, commercial anthocyanins extracted from grape by-products were used to improve vermouth color. The concentration of monomeric anthocyanins has been evaluated after dosing using extracted and commercial anthocyanins. Temporal evolution of anthocyanin concentration has been measured as well.