From resveratrol to its derivatives: new sources of natural antioxidant.

Resveratrol, a star natural product from red wine, has attracted increasing attention around the world. In recent years, resveratrol derivatives (including its oligomers) have shown amazing chemical diversity and biological activities. They have been emerging to be promising new sources of natural antioxidant. This review summarizes recent finding on antioxidant activities of resveratrol derivatives and the structure-activity relationship for the first time. Scientific evidences have highlighted their potential as therapeutic agents for cerebral and cardiovascular diseases. In our opinion, more effort should be devoted to the synthesis of resveratrol oligomers. Based on the structure-activity relationship, screening for resveratrol derivatives with higher antioxidant activity than trans-resveratrol is warranted, and these molecules may have greater therapeutic potential in future investigations.