Chemical composition and antioxidant properties of ivy gourd (Coccinia grandis) wines prepared with different pretreatment techniques

Abstract

Ivy gourd (Coccinia grandis), which is said to possess a variety of health benefits, may find use in the food processing sector. Numerous alkaloids, flavonoids, tannins, steroids, glycosides, saponins, ellagic acid, and triterpenoids have all been reported to be present in the plant. This study proposes the winemaking of ivy gourd and investigates the influence of microwave, thermovinification, and enzymatic pretreatments on the total flavonoid content (TFC), total phenolic content (TPC), and antioxidant capacity of the wines. The results showed that the pretreatments had no negative effects on the chemical composition of the products. Instead, there were positive changes in antioxidant content and activities when different processing techniques were employed. The wines pre-treated with enzymatic treatment contained much higher TPC (up to 39.37 μg GAE/ml), TFC (18.61 μg CE/ml), and 1,1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) radical scavenging activity (28.98 μg AAE/ml) than the untreated wines. Microwave and thermovinification also exhibited positive effects but to lesser extents. A fermentation process helped increase the TPC and antioxidant capacity of the wine samples while reducing their TFC values as compared to those of the musts.