Health Q&A: Does Muscadine Wine Have More Resveratrol?

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Jacob Gaffney
Posted: July 26, 2007

Q: Any truth to the news that the Muscadine wines have an inordinately high level of resveratrol and other heart-healthy components? I recently heard they can be as much as 10 times higher than other types of wine.—Tim Somers

A: Muscadine grapes are certainly a source of resveratrol, although how much exactly is in dispute. One of the first in-depth studies on resveratrol levels in Muscadine grapes and wine was published in the March 1996 issue of the American Journal of Enology and Viticulture. In that report, scientists from Mississippi State University found that Muscadine grapes, of the Vitis rotundifolia variety, had levels of resveratrol comparable to other types of wine. Since then, research has yielded inconsistent results. A recent analysis at the department of horticulture at Louisiana State University on the resveratrol content of various grapes found that Muscadine wine had up to six times the amount of resveratrol than red wine from Spain.