Abstract
Efficient extraction of phenolics from wine by-products has been of great interest to many researchers in order to maximise the activities exerted by the extracted bioactive compounds. In this study, different grape varieties of wine by-products (seeds, skin and pomace) were subjected to extraction process using solvents (i.e. aqueous acetone (Ace/w), aqueous ethanol (Eth/w) or aqueous methanol (Meth/w), 1:1 [v/v]) in order to study the effect of extraction solvent, fraction and variety on the yield of phenolic compounds, composition of phenolic compounds by LC-MS analysis and the biological activities of the extracts. The biological activities studied were: antioxidant (DPPH radical and superoxide anion), antibacterial (against Escherichia coli and Staphylococcus aureus) and antifungal (against Candida albicans) as well as in vitro anti-influenza viral activities. Furthermore, the mechanisms of antiviral action of extracts were investigated. Biological activities exerted by wine by-products (particularly antioxidant and antiviral activities) were relatively high compared to those reported to other foodstuffs in literature. There were significant effects (P < 0.001) for the extraction solvents, varieties and fractions of wine by-products on the activities. Overall, higher phenolic compounds and antioxidant activities were obtained using Ace/w extraction; however Meth/w extraction resulted in higher anti-influenza viral activity. Red grape varieties of wine by-products had an overall higher activity compared to white grape varieties. Seed extracts contained higher concentrations of flavan-3-ol compounds while skin extracts contained higher anthocyanins and flavonols. Pomace extracts contained moderate concentrations of all the compounds since pomace used was made up of both the seeds and skin. Seed extracts exhibited significantly better activities than pomace and skin extracts. All the extracts exhibited anti-influenza viral activities with the lowest effective concentration at 1 mg/mL and 10 mg/mL for seed and skin extracts, respectively. Wine by-product extracts suppressed influenza A virus infection through many modes of action. Seed extracts were able to inhibit viral infectivity in virus-bound cells but not skin extracts. Seed extracts also directly inhibited the infectivity of influenza A virus after short incubation of 30 min. Furthermore, pre-treatment of cells with extracts from wine by-products allowed the binding of extracts and inhibited virus adsorption to the cells. Results herein revealed considerable antioxidant and anti-influenza viral activity of the New Zealand vinification by-products, which can potentially be an inexpensive source of promising natural anti-influenza viral agents.