Sleep Disorders

Wine and Melatonin

Does wine contain melatonin? And does this partly explain why so many people can relax with a glass of wine?

It’s plausible that the melatonin content in wine could help regulate the circadian rhythm. Researchers have recently suggested that that hormone can be found in small quantities in wine.

Some scientists are skeptical of that claim. In other foods, detailed analysis of materials suspected to contain melatonin has found that "melatonin" was not present.

Melatonin is secreted naturally by the pineal gland in the brain, especially at night.

In 2006 Italian researchers found melatonin in extracts from different wine grapes, including Nebbiolo, Croatina, Sangiovese, Merlot, Marzemino, Cabernet Franc, Cabernet Sauvignon and Barbera.

Ironically, the anti-mold fungicide benzothiadiazole, which wineries spay on their plants to protect the grapes, seems to increase the concentration of melatonin.

It has long been known that grape juice and wine have health benefits. The chemicals in the grapes that provide these benefits include resveratrol, anthocyanins and proanthocyanidins. It now appears possible that melatonin is another phytochemical in grapes that people can benefit from.

Melatonin is a direct free radical scavenger and an indirect antioxidant. Melatonin directly detoxifies the hydroxyl radical (OH), hydrogen peroxide, nitric oxide, peroxynitrite anion, peroxynitrous acid, and hypochlorous acid. The products from each of these reactions have been identified in pure chemical systems and in at least one case in vivo; the interaction product of melatonin with the OH, ie., cyclic 3-hydroxymelatonin, is found in the urine of humans and rats.