Phenolic component and antioxidant activity evaluation in red wines produced either through traditional fermentation or carbonic maceration [Apulia]

Red wines, among which two Registered Designation of Origin (RDO) Salice Salentino and two Traditional Geographical Indication (TGI) Salento, produced during the vintage year 2000 in areas where Negroamaro vine is predominant, have been studied. Each wine obtained by the traditional fermentation procedure has been evaluated also with respect to that wine's s Novello version, produced by carbonic maceration in CO 2 saturated tank, using comparable grapes. The amounts of total phenols, ortho-dihydroxyphenols, flavonoids, antocyanins, proantocyanidins, trans-resveratrol and antioxidant activity, have been studied. The results show that all the analysed wines have a good antioxidant activity which is comparable to that of many red Registered Designation of Origin Apulian wines as reported in literature. Moreover, the phenolic component in the wines obtained by traditional fermentation seems to be different from that in the Novello wines, which is influenced by the anaerobic fermentation during its carbonic maceration. In fact, the total phenolic amount was always lower in carbonic maceration samples than in traditional fermentation samples in all the analysed groups, even if the phenolic component is different in qualitative terms.