Eur Food Res Technol (2006) 222: 397–402 DOI 10.1007/s00217-005-0067-1 ORIGINAL PAPER I. Budi´ c-Leto · T. Lovri´ c · J. Gajdoˇ s Kljusuri´ c · I. Pezo · U. Vrhovˇ sek Anthocyanin composition of the red wine Babi ´ c affected by maceration treatment Received: 15 April 2005 / Revised: 25 May 2005 / Accepted: 31 May 2005 / Published online: 6 October 2005 C  Springer-Verlag 2005 Abstract Identification of anthocyanins in the wine made of the Croatian autochthonous grape variety of Babi´ c(Vitis vinifera L.) was carried out and their profile was determined by means of high-performance liquid chromatography with diode array and mass spectrometric detection. Dependence of anthocyanins content and profile on maceration treat- ment conditions was investigated. Statistically significant differences of anthocyanins concentration in wines Babi´ c produced by various maceration treatments were confirmed by the use of multivariate analysis of variances. The inves- tigation results indicated that the maceration temperature exerts higher influence on anthocyanins concentration than the duration of maceration. In addition, on the basis of anthocyanin composition and using different multivariate statistical analyses, differentiation of wines Babi´ c accord- ing to maceration treatments was procured. Keywords Anthocyanins . High-performance liquid chromatography . Maceration treatment . Multivariate analysis . Wine Babi´ c Introduction Anthocyanins are pigments of red, blue and purple colours, mainly occurring in cellular vacuoles of grape skin [1, 2]. I. Budi´ c-Leto () · I. Pezo Institute for Adriatic Crops and Karst Reclamation, Put Duilova 11, HR-21000 Split Croatia e-mail: irena@krs.hr Tel.: +385-(0)21-434-420 Fax: +385-(0)21-316-584 T. Lovri´ c · J. G. Kljusuri´ c Faculty of Food Technology and Biotechnology, University of Zagreb, Pierottijeva 6, HR-10000 Zagreb, Croatia U. Vrhovˇ sek Istituto Agrario di San Michele, Via E. Mach 1, 38010 San Michele all’Adige, Italy Anthocyanins are important compounds for characteriza- tion of red grape varieties, which signifies them as chemical markers in distinguishing varietal red wines [3, 4]. It was determined that the mutual relations of anthocyanins (the anthocyanin profile) is a property of the vine variety, even though their absolute content in ripe grapes is variable [5, 6] and dependent on factors that concern the environmental factors, such as intensity of light and temperature [7]. Although the wine anthocyanin composition is primar- ily determined by the genetic factor of the grape variety, the vinification parameters also have quite a significant impact. It was shown that the maceration parameters, pri- marily the temperature and maceration duration, have a significant influence on extraction of anthocyanins from grape skins [8–11]. The conditions of maceration, fermen- tation and maturation of wine influence the anthocyanin composition, which is very significant, because the total concentration and composition of anthocyanins determine the colour of red wines [10, 12]. A proficient extraction of anthocyanins had been effected at the Pinot Noir variety grapes when maceration was carried out at a higher fermen- tation temperature [13]. There have been reports on a rise of anthocyanin concentrations in proportion to maceration duration only for the first several days, while a decrease occurred with an increase of maceration period [13–15]. Monomeric or free anthocyanins extracted from grapes are reactive components, which gradually turn into polymeric anthocyanins, depending on the conditions of wine ma- turing and age. Such condensing reactions occur in the presence of other flavonoid components, primarily flavan- 3-ols, such as catechins and proanthocyanidins (condensed tannins) [16, 17], or in the presence of other non-phenolic compounds, such as acetaldehyde or pyruvic acid [18]. Babi´ c is a Croatian autochthonous [19] red variety of Vitis vinifera, which acquires its superior quality in the Primoˇ sten vineyards where wine with a protected geo- graphic origin are produced. This grape variety is very important in production of high-quality red wines in the region of North Dalmatia. It attains its high quality in an extremely rocky area in the vicinity of Primoˇ sten, under specific soil conditions.