Chocolate and red wine – A comparison between flavonoids content

The flavonoids and polyphenols found in four different types of chocolate (white, milk, 40% cocoa dark and 71% cocoa dark) and four varieties of red wine (Pinot-Noir, Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot and Tannat) were evaluated. The best results were found using 71% cocoa dark chocolate (D71) (flavonoids = 21.6 ± 2.4 μmol of catechin equivalents/g and polyphenols = 62.9 ± 0.1 μmol of catechin equivalents/g) and Tannat wine (flavonoids = 5.4 ± 0.1 μmol of catechin equivalents/ml and polyphenols = 14.3 ± 1.1 μmol of catechin equivalents/ml) which were statistically different against other varieties. Vanillin flavour was shown to interfere with colour development in the spectrophotometric analysis of the flavonoids. The results indicated that 49 g of D71 dark chocolate has the same quantity of flavonoids as that of 196 ml of Tannat wine, which is the daily wine intake recommended to produce health benefits in an adult of 70 kg body weight.