# Introduction ancer is a leading cause of death and may result from chronic injury to the epithelium by oxidants and other carcinogens 1 . Epidemiological and experimental studies also offer strong evidence that implicates oxidative damage in the etiology of brain, heart and nervous system diseases 2 . Although the body has effective defence systems that protect it against oxidative stress, the capacity of these protective systems decreases with aging creating a need to provide the body with a constant supply of phytochemicals through dietary supplements 3 . French people include in the daily diet a glass of red wine and this way, the cardiovascular accidents are 2,5 less than at the American consumers of alcoholic drinks 4 . The analysis of the composition of wine demonstrated that it contains over 1000 benefic substances for the organism. Among the most important are the polyphones, carbohydrates, mineral elements (K + , Ca 2+ , Mg 2+ ), vitamins (A, B 2 , B 5 , B 6 , C), organic acids, compound aromatics and proteins 5 . The phenols are found in a higher quantity in red wines (3-5 g/L) than in the white ones. Because of their antioxidant action, the phenols from the wine annihilate the negative action of the free radicals, stopping the early aging and degenerative illnesses 6 . The antioxidant protection is ensured by SO 2 , which is used and accepted in all the countries for its multiple actions, amongst which we mention 7 : the antiseptic action, the action of inhibition of the enzymatic activity by blocking the activity of the complex of oxidative enzymes (polyphenoxidase, peroxidase and ascorbicoxidase). SO 2 are the action of reduction of the pH value and in this way, the solvability of the antocianes, the application of stabilization treatments and the increase of the antimicrobial efficiency are facilitated. Romania is an important European country that produces wine, having an important historic past and rich cultural tradition, many of them related to viticulture. Nowadays, the country is in a period of great changes, building a future in European Union and aspirates o become an appreciated member of the international community of the wine as producer of high quality wines. The researches made until now suggest that the Romanian wines present benefic vasodilators and ant sclerotic qualities, similar to those that stay at the base of the so called "French paradox" 8 . In this context, in this paper it has been followed the antioxidant action of different Romanian and Italian wines-antioxidant action sustained by the antioxidant compounds of the wines -the polyphones, as well as "active SO 2 " which is formed during keeping of the wines. # II. # Materials and Methods The study was focalized in showing the antioxidant action of some types of Romanian and Italian wines and the following analysis were made: ? The quantity analysis of the polyphones, the total, free and combined SO 2 ? The measurement of ant oxidative ability by the DMPD method. Chemicals Reagents. Folin-Ciocalteu phenol reagent, tanic acid, anhydrous sodium carbonate, anhydrous ferric chloride were purchased from Sigma Chemical Company; N,N-Dimethyl-p-phenylenediamine dihydrochloride (DMPD) and 6-hydroxy-2,5,7,8tetramethylchroman-2-carboxylic acid (TROLOX) were purchased from Aldrich, Germany; all solvents (methanol) and reagents (deionized water; acetate buffer pH 7, iodine) were purchased from local suplliers. Apparatus. Spectrophotometer measurements were recorded by using an UV-VIS Jenway 6300 apparatus. Total Polyphenolic Content of Wine Samples. The phenolic content of the different wines was determined by Folin -Ciocalteu reagent 9 . Each sample (0.1 mL) was added to 4.2 mL of deionized water and 0.5 mL of Folin-Ciocalteu reagent (Sigma). After 1 min of mixing, 1 mL of an 80% solution of sodium carbonate and 4.2 mL of deionized water were added. The mixture was left 2 h at room temperature in the dark and the absorbance at 760 nm was measured. The concentration of the total phenolic content was determined by a comparison with the values obtained with a standard solution of tanic acid (0,01%). The total content of phenolic compounds in the extract in tanic acid equivalents was calculated by the following formula T=CxV 1 /V, where: T = total content of phenolic compounds, ?g/mL wine, in tanic acid; C = the concentration of tanic acid established from the calibration curve (?g/mL); V = the volume of wine sample, milliliter; V 1 = the volum of product (1mL wine). Sulfur Dioxide Determination. Total and free SO 2 content of wine samples was determined by the titrimetic method "Ripper" using solution of iodine 0.1N. Scavenging Effect (%) by DMPD method 10 . DMPD, 100 mM, was prepared by dissolving 209 mg of DMPD in 10 mL of deionized water; 1 mL of this solution was added to 100 mL of 0.1 M acetate buffer, pH 5.25, and the colored radical cation (DMPD .+ ) was obtained by adding 0.2 mL of a solution of 0.05 M ferric chloride (final concentration 0.1 mM). One milliliter of this solution was directly placed in a 1-mL plastic cuvette and its absorbance at 505 nm was measured. Standard solutions of the TROLOX were prepared as follows: 1 mg/mL of TROLOX was prepared by dissolving 0.1 g of TROLOX in 100 mL of methanol. Fifty microliters of standard antioxidants or of wine samples (diluted in water 1:20foe the red wines, undiluted for white wines) were added in the spectrometric cuvette and after 10min at 25 °C under continuous stirring the absorbance at 505nm was measured.The buffered solution was placed in the reference cuvette. A dose-response curve was derived for TROLOX, by plotting the absorbance at 505 nm as percentage of the absorbance of the uninhibited radical cation solution (blank) according to the equation: inhibition of A 505 (%) = ) 1 ( 0 A A f ? x100 where: A 0 is the absorbance of uninhibited radical cation and A f is the absorbance measured 10 min after the addition of antioxidant samples. Antioxidant ability of fish oil was expressed as TEAC (TROLOX equivalent antioxidant capacity) according to DMPD method, using the calibration curve plotted with different amounts of TROLOX. Statistical Analysis. All data were expressed as mean ± SD (n=3) by using Origin 8 test. Mean values do not differ significantly. # III. # Results and Discussion Wine was widely studied for its antioxidative properties due to the wellknown health importance of its phenolic component. Antioxidant compounds in wine are mainly hydrophilic and their antioxidant activity could be well evaluated by the DMPD method. Total Phenolic Content and Sulfur Dioxide of Wine Samples The 17 wine samples were tested for their antioxidant ability. The concentration of the total phenolic content was determined by using calibrasion curve of tanic acid (see Fig. 1). The standard deviation is very low and the dose -response curve is highly reproducible. The ecua?ia of calibrasion curve is: C = 11,038 A -0,269; Y = A * X; A = 0.122033; Correlation Coefficient = 0.99519; Standard Error = 0.665321; r = 0.99519; r 2 = 0,99040. The content of phenols are indicated in Table 1, the total and free SO 2 are indicated in Table 2, respectivelly Table 3. The present study shows the presence of the phenols in higher quantity in the red wines 900-1900 (ppm of tanic acid), than in the white ones 200-450 (ppm of tanic acid). The obtained data are in concordance with the speciality literature; some of the red wines contain 1,72-1,91g/L and the white ones contain between 0,43 and 0,46 g/L. The results are sustained by the content of total SO 2 which at the white wines is higher 70-188 ppm than at the red ones 46-90 ppm and higher at the types which have mentioned on the label "it contains sulfites". # 87,15 Regarding to the SO 2 analysis, the maximum admitted quantity is not higher in any of the samples, value registered by O.M.S. 975/1998 (Order of Health Minister) and C.E. (European Commission). Staying at the same quantity of SO 2 allows us to sustain that adding the preservative does not have the risk of modification the organoleptic and nutritive value of the product. The obtained results are given in Tables 2 and 3 and their analysis is made in according with the values accepted by O.M.S. 975/1998. This way: ? The accepted quantity of total SO 2 in wines is: 160mg/L for the red wines with small quantity of carbohydrates; 260 mg/L for the white wines with small quantity of carbohydrates; 300mg/L for the wines with higher quantity of carbohydrates. ? The quantity of free SO 2 accepted in wines is 50 mg/L. Comparing the values of the SO 2 total/combined from the white wines with its value from the red ones is observed that the assortments if white wines have more total/ combined SO 2 , especially those which have mentioned on the label "it contains sulfites". The percentage of the "free active form "is very small, even sub unitary at some assortments; in the first three samples of white wines is found also in relatively small percentage 13%-15% for ensuring an antioxidant protection. Normally, the free SO 2 represents 15%-30% from the total SO 2 , but the antiseptic and antioxidant actions have only 2%-10% free SO 2 11 . From the ratio between the quantity of free SO 2 and total SO 2 is observed that not always the higher value of total SO 2 means a higher percentage of "active dioxide", which shows that the suffixation process is complex and has unexpected final effects. # a) The antioxidant ability of wine samples The principle of the assay is that at an acidic pH and in the presence of a suitable oxidant solution DMPD can form a stable and colored radical cation (DMPD .+ ) (Scheme 1, step 1) 10 . Antioxidant compounds (AO) which are able to transfer a hydrogen atom to DMPD .+ quench the color and produce a decoloration of the solution which is proportional to their amount (Scheme 1, step 2). This reaction is rapid (less than 10 min) and the end point, which is stable, is taken as a measure of the antioxidative efficiency. Results are reported in Table 4. The antioxidative efficiency was expressed in TEAC (TROLOX equivalent antioxidant activity) according to method, using the calibration curve plotted with different amounts of TROLOX (see Figure 2 for white wines and Figure 3 for red wines). The standard deviation is very low and the dose-response curve is highly reproducible. Inhibition of the absorbance at 505 nm is linear between 0.2 and 11 ?g of TROLOX. The relation ship calculated within this range for the standard compound is: A 505 (inhibition) = 5.3 (?g of TROLOX) + 7.0 ; r 2 = 0.987 Fig. 2 : Antioxidant activity for white wines Fig. 3 : Antioxidant activity for red wines It is observed that the red wines have a higher antioxidative activity (between 5.80% -10,2%) than the white wines. The white wines hane an antiradicalic efficiency lower than 3% (1,9% -3,10%). The difference of antioxidative activity is explained on the basis of the different contain of antioxidative compounds. There is a correlation between the content of phenols and the TEAC of each red wine and a clear difference between the value of TEAC of red wine samples and the white ones. The total polyphenol content of the white wines is too low to account for their TEAC values (seeTable 4). This finding could be related to the addition of antioxidants such as sulfur dioxide, which are widely used as preservatives, in white wines. IV. # Conclusions In this paper a method to measure antioxidant power based on the DMPD colored radical cation is reported. The assay is particularly suitable for a largescale screening of white and red wines. Studying the values of poliphenols and the the sulf values, there are some samples in which the poliphenols are in the highest concentration, although the "active sulf" is found less-sb unitary values or a little after 1. This observation allows us to accept that there are found some sorts of the wines of higher quality than others. The contain of polyphenols and of "active SO 2 " shows the antioxidative action of the analysed wine samples. ![Samples of wine nine red and eight white wine samples originating from different areas of Dobrogea, Romania and areas of Campania and Sicilia, Italia, were purchased from local and Italian markets.](image-2.png "") 1![Fig. 1 : Calibration curve for tanic acid](image-3.png "Fig. 1 :") 1 20132YearVolume XIII Issue III Version ID D D D ) B( 4*On the label is mentioned "it contains sulfites" ( )BThe Evaluation of the Wines Antioxidant Activity © 2013 Global Journals Inc. (US) ## Acknowledgment We are grateful to Prof. Alberto Ritieni for the helpful discussion and for his technical suport. * GPMurphy AmCanc ; TSoc YYoshikawa MNaito FoodKondo In Free Radicals in Biology and Medicine UK BHalliwell JM CGutteridge New York Oxford University Press 1997. 1997. 1999 2 * MEBuyukokuroglu IGulcin MOktay OIKufrevioglu Pharmacol Res 44 2001 * STinttunen LPekka Eur Food Res. 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