Natural Bioactive Compounds from Winery By-Products as Health Promoters: A Review

Natural Bioactive Compounds from Winery By-Products as Health Promoters: A Review

Ana Teixeira, Nieves Baenas, Raul Dominguez-Perles, Ana Barros, Eduardo Rosa, Diego A. Moreno and Cristina Garcia-Viguera

Int. J. Mol. Sci. 2014, 15(9), 15638-15678

Abstract

The relevance of food composition for human health has increased consumers’ interest in the consumption of fruits and vegetables, as well as foods enriched in bioactive compounds and nutraceuticals. This fact has led to a growing attention of suppliers on reuse of agro-industrial wastes rich in healthy plant ingredients. On this matter, grape has been pointed out as a rich source of bioactive compounds. Currently, up to 210 million tons of grapes (Vitis vinifera L.) are produced annually, being the 15% of the produced grapes addressed to the wine-making industry. This socio-economic activity generates a large amount of solid waste (up to 30%, w/w of the material used). Winery wastes include biodegradable solids namely stems, skins, and seeds. Bioactive compounds from winery by-products have disclosed interesting health promoting activities both in vitro and in vivo. This is a comprehensive review on the phytochemicals present in winery by-products, extraction techniques, industrial uses, and biological activities demonstrated by their bioactive compounds concerning potential for human health.

Conclusions

Consumption of grapes and grape-based foods is recognized as a major contributor to the beneficial effects of the “Mediterranean Diet”. Currently, grapes and their derivatives have attracted scientific interest to confirm their applications in the development of innovative added-value products.

A relevant proportion of grapes (up to 15% of yields) is directed to the winery industry, which is linked to the production of high amounts of undesirable by-products, which include seeds, peels, and grape stems. These have been also evaluated for their content in bioactive compounds revealing that several factors, such as cultivar, agro-climatic conditions and degree of ripening, among others, are responsible for the wide variations in their phytochemical profiles. Accurate data on the biological functions of these compounds available nowadays have allowed their identification as responsible agents for multiple benefits involved in the prevention of degenerative processes through their integration into functional foods, nutraceuticals, and cosmetics. Hence, the most relevant activities attributed to bioactive phytochemicals from winery by-products are antioxidant, antimicrobial, anti-inflammatory, and anticancer [41,81,157,172]. Even though vinification residues are considered in general, a good source of bioactive compounds, the total amount of phenolics, as well as the specific profile concerning compound identity and their relative proportion, is strongly dependent on the type of residue considered. In this regard, the identification of the specific (poly)phenols of the separate winery wastes has prompted the development of more extensive panels of valorization options for these residues. Thus, recycling of winery co-products or side streams constitutes an opportunity for providing valuable materials to pharmaceutical, cosmetic, nutraceutical, and food industries, contributing to reduced costs and environmental impact linked to the disposal of these by-products in the production areas.

Link for thr article:

http://www.mdpi.com/1422-0067/15/9/15638