The production process of wine and distilled generates several by-products (20-30% of total production). Currently, most of the
solid by-products (pomace, stalks, lees and seeds) obtained as downstream of the vinery industry, are conferred to the distillery
or, less frequently, used in agriculture and for energy production. As a consequence, much of the antioxidant compounds
contained in the grape is unused in the products of processing and is lost. These substances (among which the most important are
polyphenols, anthocyanins and resveratrol) are a heterogeneous group of compounds particularly known for their beneficial
effects on human health. In this article we present the results arising from a pilot scale research devoted to the evaluation of the
extraction of such important compounds from the by-products of four varieties of Italian grape varieties. The pomaces obtained
after wine production were extracted by innovative technologies, such as steam explosion and enzymatic extraction, without the
use of organic solvents. The results show that it is possible to recover relevant amounts of polyphenols (up to 1383±50 mg
GAE/L), anthocyanins (up to 148±2 mg/L) and resveratrol (up to 0.064 mg/L) from such by-products. Moreover, the recovered
biochemicals are functional and act as radical scavenger, suggesting possible future applications in the cosmetics industry. The
novel approach proposed here supports the possible application of steam explosion as industrial techniques to recover valuable
compounds from grape pomace in a sustainable perspective from the economic and environmental standpoint.