Classified as a stilbenoid and a phenol, it is a white solid, although samples often are yellow owing to impurities.

Piceatannol and its glucoside, astringin, are found in mycorrhizal and non-mycorrhizal roots of Norway spruces (Picea abies).

[4] Piceatannol is a metabolite of resveratrol found in red wine, grapes, passion fruit, white tea, and Japanese knotweed.

[6] A 1989 in vitro study found that piceatannol blocked LMP2A, a viral protein-tyrosine kinase implicated in leukemia, non-Hodgkin's lymphoma and other diseases associated with Epstein–Barr virus.

[8] Injected in rats, piceatannol shows a rapid glucuronidation and a poor bioavailability, according to a 2006 study.