Resveratrol Foods vs Supplements: How Much Is Really in Grapes, Berries and Wine?

Resveratrol foods include red grapes, red wine, grape juice, peanuts, pistachios, blueberries, cranberries, lingonberries and cocoa, but every one of them carries only tiny amounts. A cup of red grapes provides roughly 0.24 to 1.25 mg of total resveratrol, and an average 5-ounce glass of red wine about 0.3 mg. Supplements can provide hundreds of milligrams per capsule, usually extracted from Japanese knotweed root.

Our resveratrol guide covers what the compound is, how it's absorbed and what human trials have tested. This article answers a narrower question that comes up all the time: if you'd rather get resveratrol from food, how much is actually on your plate? Below are measured amounts from published food analyses, the arithmetic of food versus a capsule, and why supplement makers use knotweed instead of grapes.

Last reviewed: October 29, 2026.

Key Takeaways

• In grapes, resveratrol sits only in the skin, and the amount swings widely with grape variety, growing region and fungal exposure on the vine.
• Measured amounts per serving are small: about 0.24 to 1.25 mg in a cup of red grapes, 0.32 to 1.28 mg in a cup of boiled peanuts and about 0.3 mg in an average 5-ounce glass of red wine.
• Most of the resveratrol in grapes and peanuts is a sugar-bound form called piceid. Wine contains more of the free forms.
• Matching the roughly 300 mg of trans-resveratrol in one OPA capsule would take hundreds of cups of grapes, so food and supplements are really two different amounts.
• Wine is not a sensible way to get resveratrol. U.S. guidance is clear that if you don't drink, you shouldn't start for any reason.

Which foods contain resveratrol?

Resveratrol is a stilbene, a type of polyphenol that some plants make when they're stressed by fungi, injury or ultraviolet light. The Linus Pauling Institute at Oregon State University lists grapes, wine, grape juice, peanuts, cocoa and berries of the Vaccinium family (blueberries, bilberries and cranberries) as the main food sources (LPI, Resveratrol). Researchers have also found it in pistachios (Tokusoglu et al., 2005).

Two details explain why the numbers vary so much. First, in grapes resveratrol is found only in the skin, so anything made without the skins carries less. Second, the plant makes more of it under stress, so the same fruit can test very differently from one vineyard or season to the next. LPI notes that grape content depends on the cultivar, where it was grown and how much fungal pressure the vines faced.

How much resveratrol is in grapes, peanuts and other foods?

The table below collects measured amounts from LPI's food table, which draws on published peanut and grape analyses, plus a few direct food studies. "Total" includes piceid, the sugar-bound form that dominates in grapes and peanuts.

A few patterns stand out:

• Boiled peanuts beat roasted ones. In a USDA analysis of U.S. peanut products, boiled peanuts averaged about 5.1 micrograms per gram, peanut butter about 0.32 and roasted peanuts about 0.055 (Sobolev and Cole, 1999). A separate USDA study of 15 peanut cultivars found 0.02 to 1.79 micrograms per gram (Sanders et al., 2000).
• Lingonberries lead the berries. Across 10 Vaccinium species, lingonberry had the most, about 5.9 micrograms per gram of dried fruit, close to the 6.5 micrograms measured in grapes in the same study (Rimando et al., 2004). Those are dried-sample numbers, so fresh berries, which are mostly water, carry less per gram.
• Cocoa tracks the cocoa solids. In 19 top-selling U.S. cocoa and chocolate products, the more nonfat cocoa solids a product contained, the more resveratrol it had. Cocoa powder ranked highest and milk chocolate and chocolate syrup lowest, and the products held 3 to 5 times more piceid than free trans-resveratrol (Hurst et al., 2008).

To put the per-gram numbers in kitchen terms: a level tablespoon of cocoa powder weighs about 5 grams, so at 1.85 micrograms per gram it holds roughly 9 micrograms of trans-resveratrol, or about 0.009 mg. That's our arithmetic from the Hurst averages, and real products vary.

How much resveratrol is in a glass of red wine?

Less than most people assume, and it's unpredictable. LPI summarizes a large survey of red wines (Stervbo et al., 2007) by grape variety. Per 5-ounce glass, the average trans-resveratrol content looked like this:

White and rosé wines contain even less, because the grape skins are removed early in winemaking. LPI describes the resveratrol in wine as "usually low, highly variable and unpredictable," and it notes there's no convincing evidence that the effects seen in lab studies can be reached with the amounts in one or two glasses of red wine.

We don't recommend drinking wine, or drinking more of it, to get resveratrol. The CDC's guidance on alcohol says that if you don't currently drink, you shouldn't start for any reason, and that some people shouldn't drink at all, including anyone who is or might be pregnant, anyone under 21 and anyone taking medication that interacts with alcohol (CDC, About Moderate Alcohol Use). Even researchers comparing resveratrol sources pointed to non-alcoholic options for people who don't drink (Burns et al., 2002).

How much resveratrol do people actually get from food?

Very little. The best estimate comes from the EPIC-Spain cohort, a large nutrition study that built a food database of resveratrol and piceid and applied it to the diets of 40,685 adults. Median intake was about 100 micrograms (0.1 mg) a day, and about 32% of people got essentially none (Zamora-Ros et al., 2008).

Almost all of that intake, 98.4%, came from wine, with grapes and grape juice making up most of the rest. Peanuts, pistachios and berries contributed less than 0.01%. That's useful context: even in a wine-drinking Mediterranean country, dietary resveratrol is measured in fractions of a milligram.

Food vs supplements: how do the amounts compare?

This is where the gap becomes obvious. OPA Resveratrol 600 mg lists 600 mg of Polygonum cuspidatum root extract per capsule, standardized to 50% trans-resveratrol, which works out to about 300 mg of trans-resveratrol per capsule. Using the measured food amounts above:

These figures are simple division, and they mix total resveratrol for grapes and peanuts with trans-resveratrol for wine and cocoa, so treat them as orders of magnitude rather than exact equivalents. The point holds either way: a resveratrol-rich diet and a resveratrol supplement deliver amounts that differ by a factor of hundreds or more. LPI notes that supplements on the market range from less than 1 mg to 500 mg per tablet or capsule.

The forms differ too. Burns and colleagues found that grapes and peanuts contain mainly the glucoside (piceid), while red wine supplies the free cis and trans forms (Burns et al., 2002). How your body handles resveratrol after you swallow it is covered in our resveratrol guide, so we won't repeat it here.

Why do supplements use Japanese knotweed instead of grapes?

Japanese knotweed (Polygonum cuspidatum, called Hu Zhang in Chinese and Itadori in Japanese) is a fast-spreading perennial whose root is a concentrated source of resveratrol and piceid. LPI reports that most resveratrol supplements sold in the U.S. contain extracts of its root. In their comparison of plant foods and herbal sources, Burns and colleagues found that tea made from the root supplied relatively high concentrations of resveratrol, while peanuts and grapes contained low levels (Burns et al., 2002).

For a manufacturer, that matters for three practical reasons:

• Concentration. Starting from a root that's naturally rich in stilbenes takes far less raw material than starting from grape skins.
• Consistency. Grape and wine levels swing with weather, variety and fungal pressure. An extract can be standardized to a stated percentage, such as 50% trans-resveratrol, so each capsule carries a predictable amount.
• A readable label. Standardization lets the label state both the extract weight and the active share. If you're comparing products, our guide to reading a Supplement Facts label shows how to check what a number like "600 mg" actually refers to.

Should you get resveratrol from food or a supplement?

They do different jobs. Grapes, berries, peanuts and cocoa are worth eating for many reasons: fiber, vitamins and a wide range of other polyphenols, including quercetin, which we cover in our quercetin guide. Their resveratrol is a small bonus, not a dose. For broader eating patterns, see diet and longevity.

A supplement is the only practical way to take resveratrol in the amounts used in human studies. That's a separate decision from what you eat, and it's worth discussing with your healthcare provider first, especially if you take medication, are pregnant or are breastfeeding. Our resveratrol guide covers the trial doses and safety points in detail.

Frequently Asked Questions

Which food has the most resveratrol?

Among whole foods with published per-serving figures, red grapes and boiled peanuts come out near the top, at roughly 0.2 to 1.3 mg per cup. Red wine and grape juice also rank high per serving, followed by cocoa products. Japanese knotweed root is a far more concentrated source, but it isn't an everyday food.

Does grape juice contain resveratrol?

Yes. LPI lists grape juice as a source, and like grapes it carries mostly piceid, the sugar-bound form. Hurst and colleagues ranked red wine and grape juice ahead of cocoa products per serving.

Do blueberries have resveratrol?

Yes, but in small amounts. Rimando and colleagues found resveratrol in lowbush and highbush blueberries, cranberries, bilberries, lingonberries and other Vaccinium berries. Lingonberry had the most of the species tested.

Is peanut butter a good source of resveratrol?

Not really. A full cup of peanut butter provides about 0.04 to 0.13 mg. Boiled peanuts carry far more than roasted peanuts or peanut butter.

Should I drink red wine for resveratrol?

No. An average glass contains about 0.3 mg, the amount is unpredictable, and the CDC advises that people who don't drink shouldn't start for any reason. If you're interested in resveratrol, talk with your healthcare provider about whether a supplement makes sense for you.

How much resveratrol is safe to take daily?

There's no official intake recommendation for resveratrol. Food amounts are tiny, and supplement amounts vary widely by product. Our resveratrol guide covers the doses studied in people and who should avoid supplements. Check with your clinician before starting one.

Sources

• Linus Pauling Institute, Oregon State University. Resveratrol. Micronutrient Information Center (includes wine data from Stervbo U, et al., Food Chem, 2007).
• Burns J, Yokota T, Ashihara H, Lean ME, Crozier A. Plant foods and herbal sources of resveratrol. J Agric Food Chem. 2002.
• Sobolev VS, Cole RJ. trans-Resveratrol content in commercial peanuts and peanut products. J Agric Food Chem. 1999.
• Sanders TH, McMichael RW Jr, Hendrix KW. Occurrence of resveratrol in edible peanuts. J Agric Food Chem. 2000.
• Rimando AM, Kalt W, Magee JB, Dewey J, Ballington JR. Resveratrol, pterostilbene, and piceatannol in vaccinium berries. J Agric Food Chem. 2004.
• Hurst WJ, Glinski JA, Miller KB, et al. Survey of the trans-resveratrol and trans-piceid content of cocoa-containing and chocolate products. J Agric Food Chem. 2008.
• Tokusoglu O, Unal MK, Yemis F. Determination of the phytoalexin resveratrol in peanuts and pistachios by HPLC-DAD and GC-MS. J Agric Food Chem. 2005.
• Zamora-Ros R, Andres-Lacueva C, Lamuela-Raventos RM, et al. Concentrations of resveratrol and derivatives in foods and estimation of dietary intake in a Spanish population: EPIC-Spain cohort. Br J Nutr. 2008.
• CDC. About Moderate Alcohol Use. January 14, 2025.

Disclosure: OPA Nutrition sells supplements, including products mentioned in this article. This content is for education only and is not medical advice. Statements about dietary supplements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. These products are not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease. Talk to your healthcare provider before using any supplement, especially if you take medication or have a medical condition.