1. Phenolic Compounds with Antioxidant Properties of the Cultivar “Croatina”, the Grape of “Cisterna d’Asti”, a New Italian Red Wine PONTE Cristina, VAUDANO Enrico, CRAVERO Maria Carla, PISANO Giovanna, BONELLO Federica, BORSA Daniela Cisterna d’Asti Phenolic compounds, especially flavan-3-ols, flavonols, stilbenes and phenolic acids, are important anti-oxidants in human diet; they may help in preventing atherosclerosis, infiammatory diseases and cancer(1,4). Owing to polyphenols beneficial effects, the cultivar “Croatina” phenolic profile was determined within a research concerning “Cisterna d’Asti”, a new DOC wine, and its chemical and sensorial characterization. This DOC wine was instituted in 2002 and it must be produced using 80% of cultivar “Croatina” grapes. The “terroir” of “Cisterna d’Asti” is situated in Piedmont, north-west of Italy. Grape polyphenols were extracted from skins and seeds in two differents ways: by a tartaric buffer to simulate the extraction in winemaking (extractable phenols) and by the same model solution added with SO 2 (2 g/L) to determine “total phenols”. Istituto Sperimentale per l’Enologia di Asti Via Pietro Micca, 35- 14100 ASTI, ITALY e-mail: sezione.tecnologia@tin.it Different phenols were analysed by HPLC and spectrophotometric methods. The skin and seed samples were collected during ripening in 8 vineyards; the last sample was collected at 2002 harvest.(3) MATERIALS AND METHODS At vintage, the skins content in caftaric acid and in coutaric acid were about 30 mg/kg and 25 mg/kg respectly in “total phenols” extracts for all vineyards: these contents are lower than Barbera (50 mg/kg for caftaric acid and 30 mg/kg for coutaric acid), the most cultivated cultivar of Piedmont, but higher than Nebbiolo (caftaric < 10 and coutaric < 20 mg/kg), the cultivar of two high quality Piedmont red wines (Barbaresco and Barolo).(Fig. 1) Quercetin glucoside (23-48mg/kg) and miricetin glucoside (18-35 mg/kg) were the most important flavonols.(Fig.4) Procyanidins content in Croatina grape skins was quite high(from 1859 to 3241), higher than Barbera and Nebbiolo. Skins / seeds procyanidins ratio was larger too. (Fig. 3) (+)-Catechin and (-)-Epicatechin seeds content was different in the 8 vineyards varying from 60 to 150 mg/kg, and it was higher than the Barbera and Nebbiolo ones. Different classes of phenolic compounds showed various ratios of extraibility (fig. 5),from 23% ratio of trans-resveratrol to 72% ratio of procyanidins. Croatina cultivar contents of skins antocyanins and procyanidins were so high that it can be regarded as one of the most rich among Piedmontgrapes. Moreover, phenolic compounds showed good extraibility, more than 50%; thus, wines rich in antioxidant compounds can be obtained, by using suitable wine-making techniques. These results will be verified during the second year of experimentation. Trans-resveratrol content was not so high, varying from 0 to 8 mg/kg; the highest value corresponded with a vineyard damaged by a summer hailstorm. RESULTS AND DISCUSSIONS Bibliography. 1)de Beer D., Joubert E., Gelderblom W.C.A., Manley M.. Phenolic compounds: a review of their possible role as in vivo antioxidants of wine. S. Afr. J. Enol. Vitic., Vol. 23, No. 2, 2002 2)Bonello F.. I composti fenolici nella determinazione dell’origine varietale dei vini. Tesi di laurea, Università degli studi di Torino, Facoltà di Farmacia 3)Di Stefano R., Cravero M.C..Metodi per lo studio dei polifenoli dell’uva. Riv. Vitic. Enol., 44, 37-45 4)Soleas G.J., Grass L., Josephy P.D., Diamandis E.P., Goldberg D.M.. A comparison of the anticarcinogenic properties of four red wine polyphenols. Bulletin O.I.V., 2002, Vol. 75, n° 857-858, pp. 532-552