Several procedures for the extraction of grape anthocyanins, based on different methods described
in the literature, have been assayed. Results have shown that the use of solvents containing up to
1% of 12 N hydrochloric acid for the extraction of grape anthocyanins resulted in the partial
hydrolysis of malvidin 3-O-acetylglucoside, leading to important changes in the relative content of
anthocyanins in those extracts, despite their higher efficiency in extracting total anthocyans in
some cases. Nevertheless, the use of different neutral solvents resulted in a similar relative content
of anthocyanins in the extracts, and some of them could be as efficient in extracting total
anthocyanins as other procedures that used an acid solvent for extraction. These data suggest that
the use of solvents containing up to 1% of 12 N hydrochloric acid in the extraction of anthocyanins
from grapes or from any other plant material containing acetylated anthocyanins should be avoided,
especially if the work is related with any type of taxonomic studies.