Quantitative PCR Determination of Elderberries (Sambucus nigra), an Illegal Additive to Wine

Abstract

Low colour in red wine decreases its price on the market. Therefore, illegal winemakers adulterate wine by adding elderberries (Sambucus nigra), a natural colouring additive. Elderberries contain anthocyanines which also occur in red wine. Given the dynamic nature of the anthocyanine content in wine, it is sometimes difficult to distinguish wine and elderberry anthocyanines by chromatographic methods. We describe a sensitive quantitative PCR method of determination of elderberries based on amplification of internal transcribed sequence. Our method addresses a different target than traditional chromatography, DNA instead of anthocyanines, and hence can serve as a complementary method.