Anthocyanin Profiles in Grape Berry Skins of Different Species of Wine Grapes in Shanxi,China

To understand the anthocyanin characteristics of wine grape varieties, the anthocyanin composition and content of 31 wine grape varieties were analyzed to explore the use of anthocyanins as chemical fingerprints to distinguish varieties. Results showed that a total of 21 anthocyanins were detected in the skins, including cyanidin, delphinidin, petunidin, peonidin and malvidin 3-monoglucosides (or 3,5-diglucosides) along with the corresponding acetyl and p-coumaroyl derivatives. The highest and lowest total amount of anthocyanins were detected in ‘Ruby Cabernet’ and ‘Muscat Rouge’, respectively. In the 21 Vitis vinifera grapes, there were 3~11 monoglucoside anthocyanins detected, however, there were 4 to 9 monoglucoside anthocyanins and 1~7 diglucoside anthocyanins detected in the 10 other species of grapes. Except for ‘Zhesexiang’ ‘Seibel Noir’, ‘44-6-7-1’ and ‘Beibinghong’, the contents of diglucoside anthocyanins in the other six varieties accounted for more than 52% of the total anthocyanins. Except for ‘Zhesexiang’, ‘Muscat Rouge’ and ‘Beibinghong’, the content of methylated anthocyanins accounted for more than 75% of total anthocyanins. There were significant differences in the anthocyanin types and contents in the skins among V. vinifera and other grapes. The results of the principal component analysis and the cluster classification of 31 grape varieties (lines) were nearly consistent, which suggested that anthocyanins can be used as chemical fingerprints to distinguish wine grape varieties.