Anti-tumor effect of methanol extracts from red and white wines

Crude methanol extracts of red and white wines were added to diethyl ether in order to divide them into the anthocyanin fraction (insoluble in diethyl ether) and fractions containing other flavonoids and their derivatives (soluble in diethyl ether). However, the white wine did not contain anthocyanins (all of the methanol extract was soluble in diethyl ether). When HCT-15 cells, derived from human colon cancer or AGS cells, derived from human gastric cancer, were cultured with these fractions, the anthocyanin fraction from the red wine and the non-anthocyanic substances extracted from red and white wines suppressed the growth of the cells, and the suppression rate by the anthocyanin fraction was significantly higher than that of the other fractions. Thin-layer chromatographic analysis revealed mostly delphinidin in the anthocyanin fraction. The other fractions contained mostly flavonoids and their derivatives. The sugars in all fractions were mainly glucose, fucose, and fructose. Flow cytometric study suggested that the anthocyanin fraction blocked mostly S, G2, and M phase, and the non-anthocyanic flavonoids also blocked these phases, although the histographic pattern varied depending on the fractions. Methanol insoluble but water soluble fractions (mostly free sugars) of red and white wines did not show such suppressive effects.