Angiotensin I-converting enzyme inhibitory compounds in white and red wines

The antihypertensive activity of 41 wines has been determined by measuring the inhibitory activity of angiotensin-converting enzyme. The activity determined ranges from 10.3% to 95.4%, with significantly higher mean values in red wines than in the other wines. The fraction molecular weight below 10,000 has been obtained in one white wine and in one red wine by ultrafiltration and then fractionating by low pressure liquid chromatography in a Sephadex LH-20 column. The amino acids of the peptides of 6 fractions that presented antihypertensive activity were determined. The amino acids Asx, Glx and Val, form part of 5 of the 6 fractions studied, and Thr and Ala part of 4 of these fractions. Valine, which is not a majority amino acid in wine peptides, is the majority amino acid in 5 of the 6 fractions with antihypertensive activity studied.