Chemistry and Reactivity of Tannins in Vitis spp.: A Review

Tannins are a group of polyphenols found in fruits, leaves, trees, etc., well known in the leather industry and in apples, persimmons and grapes, because of their capacity to interact with other polyphenols or other components either from the food product or from saliva. Prior to being able to interact with other compounds, tannins have to be extracted from the food matrix, which depends on their chemistry, as well as the chemical structure of other components, such as cell wall material and proteins. Vitis vinifera grapes are commonly grown around the world and are used in winemaking, providing good quality wines with different levels of tannins responsible for the final wine’s astringency. Many studies have focused on tannins extractability and retention with cell wall material, and the reactivity of tannins with proteins in Vitis vinifera grapes and wine, but there are very few reports for other Vitis species. However, depending on the environmental characteristics of certain regions, Vitis hybrid grapes are grown and used to produce wines more and more. This review focuses on the comparison of the chemistry of tannins, and their reactivity with other macromolecules in Vitis species.