Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2010 Jun;75(5):M322-6.
doi: 10.1111/j.1750-3841.2010.01622.x.

Antimicrobial effects of wine: separating the role of polyphenols, pH, ethanol, and other wine components

Affiliations

Antimicrobial effects of wine: separating the role of polyphenols, pH, ethanol, and other wine components

Natasa Boban et al. J Food Sci. 2010 Jun.

Abstract

While the antimicrobial effectiveness of wine is well documented, relative contributions of the wine components to its antimicrobial activity is controversial. To separate the role of wine phenolics, ethanol, and pH from other wine constituents, the antimicrobial effects of intact wine were compared to that of phenols-stripped wine, dealcoholized wine, ethanol, and low pH applied separately and in combination, against 2 common foodborne pathogens, Salmonella enterica serovar Enteritidis and Escherichia coli. All samples were biochemically characterized with respect to their total phenolics and resveratrol content, antioxidant capacity, ethanol content, and pH. Antioxidative activity of the samples corresponded to their total phenolics content. Except for respective controls, pH and ethanol content were similar in all samples. The order of antibacterial activity of the samples was: intact wine > phenols-stripped wine > dealcoholized wine > combination of ethanol and low pH > low pH > ethanol. Separate application of ethanol or low pH showed negligible antibacterial activity while their combination showed synergistic effect. Antibacterial activity of the samples could not be related to their total phenolics and resveratrol content, antioxidant capacity, ethanol content, or pH. Our study indicates that antimicrobial activity of complex solutions such as intact wine cannot be exclusively attributed to its phenolic or nonphenolic constituents, nor can the antimicrobial activity of wine be predicted on the basis of its particular components.

PubMed Disclaimer

Publication types

MeSH terms

LinkOut - more resources