More than 70 people attended the first of several planned regional resveratrol meetings throughout the world, in October in Tokyo, Japan. During the two-day meeting both Japanese and international speakers gave, yet again, stimulating presentations on resveratrol, but this time many researchers focused on resveratrol derived from melinjo and melinjo’s dimers, especially Gnetin C.

Data presented during the two-day meeting are the latest updates of scientific findings in resveratrol-science.

Professor Karen Brown for the University of Leicester, U.K., and other speakers indicated that surprisingly low dietary doses of resveratrol have efficacy in cancer chemoprevention.

Professor F.G. Winarno from Indonesia presented the Geographic Indication – GI – for Jawa Melinjo.

Dr. Akiyoshi Takami from the University of Kanazawa, Japan, presented resveratrol supporting it use as a potential immunotherapeutic agent.

Dr. Kazuhiro Kunimasa from the Japanese Foundation for Cancer Research presented findings that melinjo/GnetinC could be even more useful than trans-resveratrol for prevention of cancer and other angiogenesis-related diseases.

Dr. Eishin Kato and Dr. Tomoki Tatefuji both presented findings supporting the superiority of melinjo dimers in reducing DNA-damage and melinjo’s dimer component having positive effect on health and long life.

Melinjo has been studied for more than 10 years, mainly by Japanese scientists. One of the goals for this first regional resveratrol meeting was to have more international scientific focus on the dimers from the melinjo plant, a compound extracted from the seeds of the melinjo, Gnetum gnemon. Melinjo seeds contain considerable amounts of resveratrol (stilbenoid) mainly in the form of dimers (Gnetin C). This first regional scientific meeting provided a platform to increase scientific knowledge on the health effects of melinjo. By further linking the experts in the field of resveratrol, the meeting supported research in this specific field of Melinjo Dimers and its health benefits.

The venue provided networking opportunities for both the industrial and scientific communities. The meeting was sponsored by a range of leading Japanese and international companies: Hosoda Nutritional, Yamada Bee Farm, Rohto Pharmaceuticals, DSM and Chiba Flour Milling.