Stilbenes have been isolated from diverse plant families, including grape (Vitaceae), pine (Pinaceae), peanut (Fabaceae), Pterocarpus and sorghum (Poaceae). There has been extensive research on the plant stilbenes since past 15 years. The commercial interest in this plant has also seen sharp increase in this time period for its biological activities and possible pharmacological applications. As the French paradox suggests that moderate consumption of red wine is beneficial for our health, research postulates possible involvement of active called Resveratrol. This is now another area of research.
Several published reports describe the health benefits of resveratrol, ranging from its potential to slow the progression of a wide variety of chronic conditions to extending the life spans of various organisms. Identification of genetic pathways possessing the regulatory master keys in the aging process was the breakthrough in anti-aging research, one such prominent pathway is the silent information regulator (SIRT) pathway. Resveratrol was found to increase SIRT1 (human variant of SIRT) activity 13-fold, with potentially beneficial effects in healthy aging and lifespan.
Pterostilbene, a structural analog of resveratrol, is reported to be more stable in vivo than resveratrol. Both resveratrol and pterostilbene exhibit antioxidant and anti-inflammatory response among various other biological properties which ultimately helps in imparting various health benefits. However, the bioactivities of pterostilbene have been studied to be more impactful than the former because of the presence of methoxyl groups on the 3,5 meta-positions. In the work conducted by Perecko et al., 10 µM of pterostilbene could inhibit 92.05% of oxidative stress induced whole blood chemiluminescence while resveratrol was found to inhibit only 67.83% of it.