Red grapes and red wine contain high levels of resveratrol.
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Resveratrol, a type of antioxidant, is produced by certain plants as a defense against invading pathogens. The phenolic compound has been associated with the "French Paradox," a statistically lower risk for cardiovascular disease among French people that is thought to be due, in part, to higher levels of red wine consumption in that culture, according to the University of Maryland Medical Center. Considerable scientific research has revealed numerous potential health benefits of resveratrol, which is found in high concentrations in a few commonly consumed plant foods.
Red grapes and red wines earn star status for their high levels of resveratrol, with Spanish grapes taking the top prize, providing as much as 1,890 micrograms in a 5-ounce glass. Grapes only have resveratrol in the skins and the amount varies according to the type of grape and whether the plant is exposed to fungal infection, a form of stress that the plant responds to by producing resveratrol to fend off infection, according to Pennington Biomedical Research Center.
Resveratrol content of blueberries is less than 10 percent that of grapes, reports a study published in the September 2003 issue of the "Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry." The study also compared resveratrol content of blueberries grown in different regions and found that Michigan-grown blueberries and blueberries grown in Poland had the highest concentration of resveratrol, while blueberries grown in Vancouver, British Columbia, had no detectable levels of the antioxidant. Researchers also noted that cooking reduced resveratrol content of blueberries by 46 percent. A study published in the July 2008 issue of the "Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry" compared resveratrol content in blueberries cultivated by organic or conventional methods and found that organic cultivation resulted in an average of 2.69 micrograms of resveratrol per gram of fresh fruit, while conventionally grown blueberries tested in the study contained 2.48 micrograms of resveratrol per gram.
Lingonberry topped the list for resveratrol content among a sample of berries tested in a study published in the July 2004 issue of the "Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry," with 5.9 micrograms per gram of dried fruit and comparing favorably to red grapes, which contained 6.5 micrograms per gram. Other berries tested in the study included lowbush, highbush and rabbiteye blueberry, bilberry, sparkleberry, deerberry and partridgeberry.
A cup of peanut butter, with up to 5 micrograms per gram, provides as much resveratrol as a 5-ounce glass of some red wines, according to the linus Pauling Institute. Boiled peanuts, a common snack food in the Southern United States and other cultures throughout the world, contain between 1.7 and 7 micrograms per gram of resveratrol.
Tracey Roizman, DC is a writer and speaker on natural and preventive health care and a practicing chiropractor. She also holds a B.S. in nutritional biochemistry.
Roizman,, Tracey. "What Foods Have Resveratrol?" Healthy Eating | SF Gate, http://healthyeating.sfgate.com/foods-resveratrol-6931.html. Accessed 22 March 2020.
Roizman,, Tracey. (n.d.). What Foods Have Resveratrol? Healthy Eating | SF Gate. Retrieved from http://healthyeating.sfgate.com/foods-resveratrol-6931.html
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What Foods Have Resveratrol? | Healthy Eating | SF Gate
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