The results of a study on the evolution of phenolic compounds, colour & antioxidant activity in 2 industrial red myrtle liqueurs during storage in bottles under different bottle headspace (constant or increasing) & exposure to light are reported. The phenolic compounds showed considerable changes even in the liqueurs stored with constant headspace. Anthocyanins in particular, both free & combined, tended to decrease. As expected, the same phenomena were observed in an accelerated form in the product stored in bottles with increasing headspace. The colour, evaluated according to the classic spectrophotometric parameters of intensity & hue, showed marked variability, especially in samples in which headspace was progressively increased. Values decreased during storage in bottles with increasing headspace, while remaining almost constant in the others.
