Grapes are reliable source of various phytochemicals, including anthocyanins and resveratrol. Previous studies have suggested cardiovascular benefits and cancer chemopreventive activities of grapes (Pezzuto 2008; Levitsky and Dembitsky 2014). It is a major source of polyphenols, and earlier studies showed the antiproliferative effect of red wine polyphenols on human breast cancer cells (Nakagawa et al. 2001; Nifli et al. 2005). The antiproliferative effect of flavonoid fractions of red wine had been investigated on breast cancer cells lines and normal human mammary epithelial cells (Hakimuddin et al. 2004) They concluded that the flavonoid fractions of red wine were selectively less cytotoxic to normal human mammary epithelial cells (HMEC) and non-tumorigenic MCF-10A cell lines and showed maximum growth inhibition toward MCF-7 breast cancer cells. Further, the mechanism of antiproliferative action of red wine polyphenol fractions was examined. The data suggested that polyphenol disrupts calcium homeostasis which may disturb mitochondria functions and further cause membrane damage, and these subsequent events result in selective cytotoxicity toward MCF-7 breast cancer cells (Hakimuddin et al. 2006).
