Towards bioactive compound-rich grape vineyards

The phenolic compounds of grapes are mainly found in their skin and seeds while only a low amount is observed in their pulp. However, teinturier wine grapes, with coloured pulps and potential for intense colour, have high levels of polyphenols not only in their skin and seeds but also in their pulp. The aim of this work is to study the total phenolic compounds (TPC) and total antioxidant capacity (TAC) of several grape cultivars found in their edible part in order to screen for new cultivars with improved bioactive compounds. We compared grape samples from three teinturier grapevines, namely ‘Morrastell Bouschet’ (MB), ‘Petit Bouschet’ (PB) and ‘Alicante Bouschet’ (AB) with grape samples coming from a cross between these cultivars and the ‘Itumone’ and ‘Sugraone’ table grapes. Grape samples of ‘Alicante Bouschet’ × ‘Itumone’ (PF1008) showed higher values of TPC, with 12.0 g GAE (gallic acid equivalent) kg^‑1 dw and TAC from 17.4 to 24.8 g TE (trolox equivalent) kg^‑1 dw, which reported to be 41-82% higher in TPC and 38-113% in TAC than the teinturier cultivars. Such high values of bioactive compounds open new ways to the development of non-alcoholic, vitivinicultural products for human consumption including musts and juices, table grapes and dried grapes.