Formation of acutissimin A in red wine through the contact with cork

Abstract

This study shows that when cork material gets in contact with wine, the elagitannins which exist in the cork material (namely one called vescalagin) react with the catechins present in the wine, producing, among others, Acutissimin A, which is an anti-tumoural agent about 250 times more potent than one of the most common anti-cancer drugs clinically used (VP-16). So, the contact of wine samples without the barrel winemaking stage (oak contact) was carried out with cork in order to determine the presence of Acutissimin A. After a contact time of about 30 min, 150 min and 6 days, Acutissimin A was detected in all samples containing cork. In the samples in which the contact was with oak wood, in our conditions, it was not possible to detect Acutissimin A.