Wine and health

The Catholic University of Piacenza carried out research into the health profile of Piacenza wines using a metabolomic approach.

One of the threats to the world of wine, and to its very existence, is the hostility of powerful anti-alcohol lobbies in important international bodies (such as the World Health Organisation WHO) towards alcoholic beverages (including wine).

One way of countering this attitude has already been put in place by the world of wine producers, such as the creation of the Wine in Moderation structure, which promotes conscious wine consumption, recognising the health risks of excess. What's more, moderate consumption of wine can even be good for a healthy person's health because it contains substances (mainly polyphenols, such as resveratrol and other stilbenes) that have antioxidant effects. Emphasising the health-giving properties of wine, as a side effect of its consumption, can therefore be a positive way of promoting informed consumption, because wine is not only alcohol, but also a carrier of intangible values linked to culture.

The aim of the research is to assess the presence of these polyphenolic substances in some representative wines from Piacenza, using an innovative and cutting-edge analytical approach called metabolomics. This is a very powerful, semi-quantitative analytical method, which is able to determine in a wine known molecules of various types present even in infinitesimal quantities and also to identify new ones.

Ten wines from Piacenza were considered in the trial (three replicas each, from different vintages, and from representative vineyards in the province). Chemical analyses were carried out on these wines in the first half of 2018.You can read the interesting outcomes of the research in the document at the following link:

RESEARCH UNIVERSITY CATHOLIC - PC - HEALTH PROFILE WINE PC WITH METABOLIC - 27-04-18