A-State scientists find better source
of anti-aging compound

by Dr. Fabricio Medina-Bolivar, Plant Metabolic Engineering






Ph.D. student Mr. Jose Condori (left) and research advisor Dr. Medina-Bolivar (right), show peanut roots grown in the laboratory to produce resveratrol. Picture by Luis Nopo-Olazabal.


April 21, 2007 -- Last November, a group of scientists led by Dr. David Sinclair at Harvard published a study showing the beneficial effects of resveratrol, a natural compound found in red wine, on expanding the life span of rodents. Soon after this press release, the news traveled around the world, hitting all communications media.

Resveratrol is probably one of the most recently studied compounds derived from plants.  The number of beneficial effects on human health that have been reported for this compound are continuously increasing. They include antioxidant properties and several anticancer properties. 

Antioxidants are widely used as in dietary supplements in the belief that they can improve health by preventing a number of diseases, such as coronary heart conditions and even cancer. 

The presence of resveratrol in red wine has been suggested as the cause of the phenomenon known as the “French Paradox,” where a population in France with a high fat diet and moderate consumption of wine shows low incidence of cardiovascular diseases.

Resveratrol is produced by certain plants in response to environmental challenges and attack by diseases. This is why it is predominantly found in the skin of grapes, and therefore in red wine, because the skins are maintained for a longer period during the manufacturing of red versus white wine. But resveratrol is not unique to grapes. Other important plants such as peanuts and blueberries also contain resveratrol. Because the production of resveratrol cannot be controlled when grapes, peanuts, or  blueberries are grown in the field, the amounts of resveratrol often vary significantly.

Together with Dr. Maureen Dolan at Arkansas State University, I recently led a research study that shows that peanut roots grown in the laboratory can be a source for a high quality resveratrol product.

At my laboratory at the Arkansas Biosciences Institute, I applied several years of research experience on how to manipulate the plant roots to produce biologically active compounds. By applying this knowledge, I was able to induce the peanut roots to produce a specific amount of resveratrol. Moreover, these roots can be induced to produce other important resveratrol derivatives, such as the cholesterol-lowering compound pterostilbene. Because of the many applications of these compounds on the food and pharmaceutical sectors, a provisional patent was filed by ASU to protect this discovery.

I was recently invited to present two talks and to lead the biotechnology group at the International Symposium on Medicinal and Nutraceutical Plants, a scientific event sponsored by the International Society for Horticultural Science that took place in Fort Valley, Georgia, the last week of March.

The talks highlighted our research on how to use the plant roots to produce important medicinal compounds such as resveratrol.

This is another example of applied research that benefits the world being conducted at Arkansas State University.

For more information contact the ASU Dept. of Biological Sciences at biology@astate.edu.

Dr. Medina-Bolivar is an Assistant Professor in Plant Metabolic Engineering with a joint appointment in the Department of Biological Sciences and the Arkansas Biosciences Institute at Arkansas State University. He was recently honored with the Neish award for his research on medicinal plants from the Phytochemical Society of North America.

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