Grapes are one of the oldest cultivated crops in human history, and have been used for our diet in various ways such as wine, raisins, jam and herbs, as well as eaten fresh.  Grapes'skins and leaves contain rich flavonoids called flavonols (a class of polyphenolic compounds) that deepen the red color of grape skins and wine.  Flavonol also has preferable functions for human health as shown in the above food made form grapes. For example, glucuronic acid glycosides have antidepressant effects, and glucose glycosides help prevent arteriosclerosis and protect cells.  Flavonol glycosides have different health functions that depend on sugars to be bound.

 A research group led by Professor Toru Nakayama at Graduate School of Engineering, Tohoku University has clarified why bioactive flavonol glycosides in grapevines bind to different sugars by showing the relation with enzyme evolution that is involved with biosynthesis of these chemical compounds through the joint research with Suntory Holdings Limited, Suntory Institute for Bioorganic Research, Niigata University of Pharmacy and Applied Life Sciences and Ritsumeikan University.  The research results have been published online in The Plant Cell, one of the most authoritative journals in plant science, on August 6, 2010 (Five-Year Impact Factor 10.679).  The paper's title is “Functional Differentiation of the Glycosyltransferases That Contribute to the Chemical Diversity of Bioactive Flavonol Glycosides in Grapevines (Vitis vinifera.)”

More Information (Japanese)

[Contact]
Professor Toru Nakayama
Graduate School of Engineering, Tohoku University
TEL: +81-22-795-7270
E-mail: nakayama*seika.che.tohoku.ac.jp (Replace * with @)
Laboratory Website: http://www.che.tohoku.ac.jp/~seika/index.html