Absorption by the organism of the antioxidants present in beverages depends on their hydrophobicity and their capacity to avoid precipitation by the proline rich proteins present in saliva. In the present work, we show that the antioxidants present in red wine samples are compounds of high hydrophilicity that are only poorly adsorbed by the proteins present in saliva. The antioxidant capacity of red wine samples is decreased only in 13 % when extracted with n-octanol (1:1 , V:V) , irrespective of the pH of the wine sample. Similarly, only a small fraction of the antioxidants (12.2 ± 3.4 %) is precipitated when wine samples are shaken for a few minutes with non-stimulated human saliva (5:1, V:V). This last result implies that most of the polyphenols present in the red wine samples are able to surpass the barrier imposed by the saliva