Not to bang the fruit wine drum too much, but here is an article I found on another blog site: http://fruitwines.blogspot.com/. Now I have a scientific health reason for the mess in my kitchen.
Heinz
A new study confirms winemakers' beliefs that fruit wines have potential positive health benefits.
In a recent study, scientists emphasized that Ontario's Fruit Wines have positive health benefits. The study conducted by the Guelph Center for Functional Foods, Laboratory Services at the University of Guelph by Dr. Vasantha Rupasinghe and his colleagues, was initiated to determine whether fruit wines possess basic health related constituents in comparison to traditional wines.
Scientists collected 10 major categories of fruit wines, red, white and ice wines, and tested them for a number of health promoting constituents (total phenolic content, total antioxidant capacity and mineral elements) as well as health problem causing constituents, namely histamines. The study concluded that total antioxidants and phenolics are the highest in red (grapes), elderberry, blueberry, and black currant wines, moderate in cherry, raspberry, cranberry, and plum wines and lowest in apple, peach, ice (grapes) and pear wines. It was also found that potassium was the most abundant element distributed throughout all categories of wines. Elderberry wine contained the highest levels of magnesium. Interestingly, compared to red wines, all the fruit wines had much lower levels of histamines, which is often referred to as the "headache inducing" biogenic amine present in wines.
Dr. Rupasinghe's findings are encouraging to the fruit wine industry. "We have always trusted in the health benefits of our fruit wines," explains Jim Warren, executive director of Fruit Wines of Ontario. "This project will help us achieve the market advantage that Ontario's quality fruit wines deserve." The study was partially funded by the Ontario Government and studies are underway to explore better fruit wine manufacturing practices to improve the overall quality of Ontario-produced wines.
For more information on Dr. Rupasinghe's study and Fruit Wines of Ontario, contact Forefront Communications at 416-398-3335 or milford@forefrontcom.com.
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Here is abit more on the topic
ReplyDeleteThe Virtues of Fruit Wines
Consumers have had increased awareness of the benefits of wine, especially with the advent of the French Paradox. The French Paradox refers to the connection between France's low coronary heart disease mortality rates and the regular consumption of red wine.
This increased interest in human health, nutrition and disease prevention has enlarged consumer demand for functional foods. These functional foods provide a health benefit that goes beyond basic nutrition.
Dr. Vasantha Rupasinghe, assistant professor and Tree Fruit Bio-Product Research Chair at Nova Scotia Agricultural College, took this research to a new and different level. A collaboration between NSAC and the University of Guelph, the study attempted to determine basic health-related constituents present in 10 categories of fruit wines and compare them with those in traditional wines.
Dr. Rupasinghe says that despite the strong epidemiological and other scientific evidence to support the health benefits of red wine, some people have difficulty enjoying it due to allergic reactions commonly called wine headaches. The exact reason for this is not clear but a group of fermentation products known as biogenic amines, which includes histamine, is suggested to be the culprit. Symptoms associated with histamine allergies include flush, sneezing, headache, diarrhea, skin itch and shortness of breath. Dr. Rupasinghe�s study attempted to find an alternative solution for this problem by studying non-traditional wines with high antioxidants but no histamine.
According to Dr. Rupasinghe, no detailed investigations had previously been conducted to evaluate health-related major components and histamine of fruit wines produced using pome fruits, berries and stone fruits, although there is data available on the concentrations of antioxidants and biogenic amines in grape wines.
As the initial step of this research, Dr. Rupasinghe and his team determined the histamine content, total antioxidant capacity (TAC), total phenolic content (TPC) and the concentrations of mineral elements present in non-traditional fruit wines, and compared their concentrations with those found in grape wines (red, white and icewine).
Ten types of fruit wines (apple, black currant, blueberry, cherry, cranberry, elderberry, peach, pear, plum and raspberry) and four types of grape wine (red, Chardonnay, Riesling and icewine) were examined in the study.
Fruits contain many dietary phytonutrients, with antioxidants (phenolics, carotenoids; and vitamins) being the primary one that comes to mind,� says Dr. Rupasinghe. Scientific literature shows that dietary intake of these fruit phenolics is inversely related to coronary heart disease and has other beneficial properties.
The concentration and composition of the phenolics present in wines depends largely on the source of fruit and the method of wine making. Interestingly, this study showed that TAC and TPC are the highest not only in red (Cabernet) wine but also in elderberry, blueberry and black currant wines. They were moderate in cherry, raspberry, cranberry and plum wines; and the lowest in apple, peach and icewine (from grapes), white(Chardonnay) and pear wines.
Among the 16 elements analyzed, potassium was the most abundant element distributed among all the wines. An interesting finding was that calcium concentration was the highest in cranberry wines. Other interesting findings included magnesium concentrations, which were highest in grape wines (red, white and icewine) and elderberry wine. Iron, manganese and zinc were the predominant minor elemental constituents.
According to Dr. Rupasinghe, understanding the mineral content in wine can be beneficial because of potential health impacts, its role in wine stability and in determining toxicological risks and food regulations. He notes that literature states that the mineral profile of wines has also been proposed as a possible fingerprint; used to characterize wines based on their geographic origin.
A major and unique finding of interest was the biogenic amine concentrations in fruit wines, in particular, histamine. Biogenic amines are organic compounds found in wines that are a result of the fermentation process of red wines (malolactic fermentation). Wines other than red wine had much lower concentrations of histamine. Concentrations of histamine in plum, cherry and apple wines were even below the method detection limit. Red wine (Cabernet) had a significantly higher concentration of biogenic amine histamine than did any of the fruit wines, white wines or icewine.
So does this mean that fruit wines are headache-free?
I wouldn't go so far as to say that, says Dr. Rupasinghe. Although promising, a long-term clinical trial would need to be conducted in order to confirm these results in people who are sensitive to histamine. The study does, however, demonstrate that the biogenic amine that reputedly causes headaches, histamine, is present only in trace amounts in non-traditional fruit wines as compared to red wines.
This study indicates that potential exists for introducing headache-free but health-promoting, antioxidant-rich, non-traditional fruit wines to consumers of who are not able to enjoy the possible health benefits of red wine.
Article by: Erin MacPherson