Trans-resveratrol in wines from the Canary Islands (Spain). Analysis by high performance liquid chromatography

Trans-resveratrol is a phytoalexin from grapes with interesting therapeutic properties. Thus considerable interest has been directed to its study. In this paper the determination of trans-resveratrol in wines from the Canary Islands by high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC), using absorbance and fluorescence detectors in series, is reported. The use of fluorimetic detection improves selectivity and sensitivity for the determination of this compound. The detection limits in real samples were 0.02 and 0.003 mg/l for absorbance and fluorescence detection, respectively. We compared the results obtained by means of both detectors, for 58 red wines from different denominations of origin, and no significant differences were observed, either between methods or among the denominations of origin. The mean level found in bottled red wines was 2.89 mg/l.