On Health Effects of Resveratrol in Wine

Causal effects of dietary habits on COVID-19 susceptibility, hospitalisation and severity: a comprehensive Mendelian randomisation study

This study aimed to investigate the causal effect of dietary habits on COVID-19 susceptibility, hospitalisation and severity. We used data from a large-scale diet dataset and the COVID-19 Host Genetics Initiative to estimate causal relationships using Mendelian randomisation. The inverse variance weighted (IVW) method was used as the main analysis. For COVID-19 susceptibility, IVW estimates indicated that milk (OR: 0·82; 95 % CI (0·68, 0·98); P = 0·032), unsalted peanut (OR: 0·53; 95 % CI (0·35, 0·82); P = 0·004), beef (OR: 0·59; 95 % CI (0·41, 0·84); P = 0·004), pork (OR: 0·63; 95 % CI (0·42, 0·93); P = 0·022) and processed meat (OR: 0·76; 95 % CI (0·63, 0·92); P = 0·005) were causally associated with reduced COVID-19 susceptibility, while coffee (OR: 1·23; 95 % CI (1·04, 1·45); P = 0·017) and tea (OR: 1·17; 95 % CI (1·05, 1·31); P = 0·006) were causally associated with increased risk. For COVID-19 hospitalisation, beef (OR: 0·51; 95 % CI (0·26, 0·98); P = 0·042) showed negative correlations, while tea (OR: 1·54; 95 % CI (1·16, 2·04); P = 0·003), dried fruit (OR: 2·08; 95 % CI (1·37, 3·15); P = 0·001) and red wine (OR: 2·35; 95 % CI (1·29, 4·27); P = 0·005) showed positive correlations. For COVID-19 severity, coffee (OR: 2·16; 95 % CI (1·25, 3·76); P = 0·006), dried fruit (OR: 1·98; 95 % CI (1·16, 3·37); P = 0·012) and red wine (OR: 2·84; 95 % CI (1·21, 6·68); P = 0·017) showed an increased risk. These findings were confirmed to be robust through sensitivity analyses. Our findings established a causal relationship between dietary habits and COVID-19 susceptibility, hospitalisation and severity.

Moderate Wine Consumption and Health: A Narrative Review

Although it is clearly established that the abuse of alcohol is seriously harmful to health, much epidemiological and clinical evidence seem to underline the protective role of moderate quantities of alcohol and in particular of wine on health. This narrative review aims to re-evaluate the relationship between the type and dose of alcoholic drink and reduced or increased risk of various diseases, in the light of the most current scientific evidence. In particular, in vitro studies on the modulation of biochemical pathways and gene expression of wine bioactive components were evaluated. Twenty-four studies were selected after PubMed, Scopus and Google Scholar searches for the evaluation of moderate alcohol/wine consumption and health effects: eight studies concerned cardiovascular diseases, three concerned type 2 diabetes, four concerned neurodegenerative diseases, five concerned cancer and four were related to longevity. A brief discussion on viticultural and enological practices potentially affecting the content of bioactive components in wine is included. The analysis clearly indicates that wine differs from other alcoholic beverages and its moderate consumption not only does not increase the risk of chronic degenerative diseases but is also associated with health benefits particularly when included in a Mediterranean diet model. Obviously, every effort must be made to promote behavioral education to prevent abuse, especially among young people.

Comparison of the Effect of Cold Plasma with Conventional Preservation Methods on Red Wine Quality Using Chemometrics Analysis

In this study, the effect of cold plasma (CP) on the physicochemical and biological properties of red wine was investigated in comparison with the effects of the conventional preservation method and the combined method. In addition, the effect of storage time after the application of each of the analyzed methods was evaluated. The study examined the effects of the different preservation methods on the pH, color, phenolic content, antioxidant activity and microbiological purity of the red wine. Chemometric analysis was used to discover the relationship between the preservation method used and wine quality. In the wine samples tested, a reduction in phenolic compounds and a decrease in antioxidant activity were noted after storage. This effect was mildest for preservation methods with the addition of potassium metabisulphite and those in which a mixture of helium and nitrogen was used as the working gas. On a positive note, the CP treatment did not affect the color of the wine in a way perceptible to the consumer: ∆E*—1.12 (He/N₂; 5 min). In addition, the lowest growth of microorganisms was detected in the CP-treated samples. This indicates the potential of cold plasma as an alternative method to the use of potassium metabisulfite in wine production, which may contribute to its wider use in the alcohol industry in the future.