Background: Recent studies indicate that regular consumption of red wine reduces the risk of atherosclerosis and coronary heart disease. This effect is attributed in part to the antioxidant properties of polyphenolic compounds. The purpose of our study was to examine the antioxidant potential of selected wines under in vitro conditions.
Material and methods: We examined the total antioxidant capacity of 10 selected wines using the recently developed FRAP method. This method measures the capacity of the antioxidants contained in the analyzed solution to reduce ferric-tripiridyltriazine (Fe3+-TPTZ) to a ferrous form (Fe2+) which absorbs light at 593 nm.
Results: All the analyzed wines had strong antioxidant potential in the FRAP test. Red wines demonstrated higher antioxidant capacity than white wines, and dry wines higher than sweet wines. Neither ethanol (1–100%) nor glucose had any capacity to reduce Fe3+, indicating that these substances are not responsible for the antioxidant properties of wine. Red grape juice demonstrated an antioxidant capacity similar to that of sweet wines, whereas white grape juice had no antioxidant properties.
Conclusion: These results indicate that wine demonstrates antioxidant activity in vitro and that the FRAP test can be used for to analyze this activity.

Keywords: Wine, Free Radicals, atherosclerosis