Quantification of polyphenols with potential antioxidant properties in wines using reverse phase HPLC

A RP-HPLC method with photodiode array detection (DAD) was developed to separate, identify and quantify simultaneously the most representative phenolic compounds present in Madeira and Canary Islands wines. The optimized chromatographic method was carefully validated in terms of linearity, precision, accuracy and sensitivity. A high repeatability and a good stability of phenolics retention times (< 3%) were obtained, as well as relative peak area. Also high recoveries were achieved, over 80.3%. Polyphenols calibration curves showed a good linearity (r(2) >0.994) within test ranges. Detection limits ranged between 0.03 and 11.5 microg/mL for the different polyphenols. A good repeatability was obtained, with intra-day variations less than 7.9%. The described method was successfully applied to quantify several polyphenols in 26 samples of different kinds of wine (red, rosé and white wines) from Madeira and Canary Islands. Gallic acid was by far the most predominant acid. It represents more than 65% of all phenolics, followed by p-coumaric and caffeic acids. The major flavonoid found in Madeira wines was trans-resveratrol. In some wines, (-)-epicatechin was also found in highest amount. Canary wines were shown to be rich in gallic, caffeic and p-coumaric acids and quercetin.