Fluorescence approach for measuring anthocyanins and derived pigments in red wine

A novel fluorescence approach to monitor the evolution of anthocyanins and derivatives in red wine was developed. Some red table wines and Port wine with different vintage years were first tested with the aim to determine the ideal fluorescent conditions. The fluorescence contribution of both monomeric and polymeric anthocyanins was studied by comparing their emission spectra. By measuring the F700/F560 ratio on different wine samples and applying an inverted exponential function, it was possible to estimate the monomeric/polymeric anthocyanin absorbance ratio that is proportional to the relative content of the two classes of compounds. The methodology was further developed by using pure compounds representative of monomeric anthocyanins and anthocyanin-pyruvic acid adducts, namely, by using malvidin-3-O-glucoside and vitisin A. A fluorescence excitation ratio (FER350/550) was considered for estimating the absorbance ratio between vitisin A and malvidin-3-O-glucoside. Overall, this work aims to use fluorescence to monitor the evolution of anthocyanin derivatives and to distinguish them from their anthocyanin precursors, thereby allowing the evolution of anthocyanin pigments during wine aging to be monitored, but it also may be useful to determine age markers or even geographical markers.