Vitis vinifera L. cv. Graciano grapes characterized by its anthocyanin profile

Graciano is a Spanish Vitis vinifera L. variety traditionally used to improve wine mixtures containing other original varieties. Given the scant literature on anthocyanins in Graciano grapes, the aim of this work was to determine its anthocyanin composition on the basis of HPLC/MS profiles and to compare it to those of other well-known varieties such as Tempranillo and Cabermet-Sauvignon. Thanks to this technique, the isomer cis of malvidin-3-(6-p-coumaroyl)-glucoside has been identified in the three varieties, being the first time this compound is reported in Vitis varieties. Anthocyanins in Graciano show a high proportion of peonidins, with peonidin-3-glucoside/malvidin-3-glucoside (PnG/MG) being considered as a potential marker for the characterization of the variety. However, the ratio between the sums of the p-coumaroyl/acetylated anthocyanins (SigmaCm/SigmaAc) allows the three varieties to be best distinguished, Tempranillo having the highest values followed by Graciano (intermediate) and Cabernet-Sauvignon (values of less than one). (C) 2003 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.