The surprising claim is based on the distinction between white wine and red wine (and rosé in between) being based on the presence or absence of certain pigments. The pigments are called anthocyanins. are water-soluble vacuolar pigments that may appear red, purple, or blue depending on the pH.
What distinguishes red from white is that white wine grapes do not have anthocyanins, according to most viniculturalists. A new finding suggests that this long held view might actually be incorrect.
The new finding that white wine contains the red wine pigment comes from a study conducted by Panagiotis Arapitsas from the Italian Edmund Mach Foundation. The research group, New Scientist reports, used the laboratory technique of mass spectrometry to analyse the skins of grapes from Chardonnay, Sauvignon Blanc and Riesling grapes (as primary representatives of white wine). The food scientists found that these white grapes did in fact contain anthocyanins, albeit in concentrations several thousand times smaller than in red grape varieties such as Merlot.
The new research has been published in the journal Food Research International. The research is titled “Do white grapes really exist?”
Anthocyanins belong to a parent class of molecules called flavonoids. Flavonoids are widely distributed in plants, fulfilling many functions. Flavonoids are involved in UV filtration, symbiotic nitrogen fixation and floral pigmentation. Some argue that flavonoids impart health benefits, specifically due to anti-allergic, anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, anti-microbial (antibacterial, antifungal, and antiviral), anti-cancer, and anti-diarrheal activities.
Anthocyanin pigments in particular have demonstrated the ability to protect against a myriad of human diseases in several studies. As well as acting as antioxidants, anthocyanins may offer anti-inflammatory, anti-viral, and anti-cancer benefits.
