Potential Antimicrobial Activity of Red and White Wine Phenolic Extracts against Strains of Staphylococcus aureus, Escherichia coli and Candida albicans

The aim of this study was to assess antimicrobial activities of wine phenolic extracts. The potential antimicrobial activity of alcohol-free red and white wine extracts against pathogenic strains of Staphylococcus aureus, Escherichia coli and Candida albicans was studied using the agar well diffusion method. Total phenolic content of wine extracts was determined by the Folin-Ciocalteu method, while their phenolic composition was specified by high performance liquid chromatography and diode array detector (HPLC-DAD). The antimicrobial activity of the tested extracts was related to their total phenolic content. Antimicrobial activity of the tested wine extracts was more effective against S. aureus and less effective against E. coli and C. albicans. Also, C. albicans was resistant to more wine extracts than the two bacterial species studied. The antimicrobial activity and the phenolic composition of the tested white and red wine extracts indicate that some phenolic acids have the potential to inhibit growth of certain pathogens such as S. aureus, E. coli and C. albicans strains.