Compound Monograph

Quercetin

Phenolics Flavonols Natural (plant-derived)

The most widely distributed dietary flavonol — the yellow pigment of onion skin and caper buds, present in most medicinal plants mostly as glycosides (rutin, isoquercitrin). Poorly and erratically absorbed; the best human evidence is a small, dose-gated blood-pressure effect.

Sources · 95

Where Does It Come From?

Quercetin is a naturally occurring flavonol (flavonoid), found in Bearberry, Buchu, Bupleurum and 92 other sources. It is well tolerated orally (low toxicity).

Principal source Bearberry Arctostaphylos uva-ursi Herb monograph → Source Acacia Acacia, Vachellia & Senegalia spp. Herb monograph → Source African Dream Herb Entada rheedii Herb monograph → Source Amaranth Amaranthus blitum Herb monograph → Source Arjuna Terminalia arjuna Herb monograph → Source Arnica Arnica montana Herb monograph → Source Babul Vachellia nilotica Herb monograph → Source Bael Aegle marmelos Herb monograph → Source Bay Bean Canavalia rosea Herb monograph → Source Bilberry Vaccinium myrtillus Herb monograph → Source Black Walnut Juglans nigra Herb monograph → Source Blue Lotus Flower Nymphaea caerulea Herb monograph → Source Blue Passionflower Passiflora caerulea Herb monograph → Source Broom Cytisus scoparius Herb monograph → Source Buchu Agathosma betulina Herb monograph → Source Bupleurum Bupleurum falcatum Herb monograph → Source Calamus Acorus calamus Herb monograph → Source Camu-camu Myrciaria dubia Herb monograph → Source Catechu Senegalia catechu Herb monograph → Source Catnip Nepeta cataria Herb monograph → Source Chanca Piedra Phyllanthus niruri Herb monograph → Source Chilca Baccharis latifolia Herb monograph → Source Chinese Hibiscus Hibiscus rosa-sinensis Herb monograph → Source Chir Pine Pinus roxburghii Herb monograph → Source Chrysanthemum Chrysanthemum morifolium Herb monograph → Source Cleavers Galium aparine Herb monograph → Source Coltsfoot Tussilago farfara Herb monograph → Source Cornflower Centaurea cyanus Herb monograph → Source Couchgrass Elymus repens Herb monograph → Source Elderberry Sambucus nigra Herb monograph → Source Epazote Dysphania ambrosioides Herb monograph → Source Eucalyptus Eucalyptus globulus Herb monograph → Source Fennel Foeniculum vulgare Herb monograph → Source Feverfew Tanacetum parthenium Herb monograph → Source Fish Mint Houttuynia cordata Herb monograph → Source Ginkgo Ginkgo biloba Herb monograph → Photo coming soon Source Goat's Rue Galega officinalis Herb monograph → Source Goldenrod Solidago virgaurea Herb monograph → Source Gotu Kola Centella asiatica Herb monograph → Source Graviola Annona muricata Herb monograph → Source Greater Celandine Chelidonium majus Herb monograph → Source Guamura Cecropia obtusifolia Herb monograph → Source Guayusa Ilex guayusa Herb monograph → Source Gynostemma Gynostemma pentaphyllum Herb monograph → Source Hawthorn Crataegus oxyacantha Herb monograph → Source Hops Humulus lupulus Herb monograph → Source Horse Chestnut Aesculus hippocastanum Herb monograph → Photo coming soon Source Hydrangea Hydrangea arborescens Herb monograph → Source Japanese Knotweed Reynoutria japonica Herb monograph → Source Juniper Juniperus communis Herb monograph → Photo coming soon Source Korean Red Pine Pinus densiflora Herb monograph → Source Linden Flower Tilia spp. Herb monograph → Source Lobelia Lobelia inflata Herb monograph → Source Marshmallow Althaea officinalis Herb monograph → Source Masson Pine Pinus massoniana Herb monograph → Source Meadowsweet Filipendula ulmaria Herb monograph → Source Mexican Tarragon Tagetes lucida Herb monograph → Source Milk Thistle Silybum marianum Herb monograph → Source Monterey Pine Pinus radiata Herb monograph → Source Motherwort Leonurus cardiaca Herb monograph → Source Mugwort Artemisia vulgaris Herb monograph → Source Neem Azadirachta indica Herb monograph → Source Oregano Origanum vulgare Herb monograph → Source Passionflower Passiflora incarnata Herb monograph → Source Pau D'Arco Tabebuia impetiginosa Herb monograph → Source Raspberry Leaf Rubus idaeus Herb monograph → Source Rooibos Aspalathus linearis Herb monograph → Source Rose Rosa spp. Herb monograph → Source Sage Salvia officinalis Herb monograph → Source Sarsaparilla Smilax spp. Herb monograph → Source Shatavari Asparagus racemosus Herb monograph → Source Shepherd's Purse Capsella bursa-pastoris Herb monograph → Source St. John's Wort Hypericum perforatum Herb monograph → Source Stevia Stevia rebaudiana Herb monograph → Source Stinging Nettle Urtica dioica Herb monograph → Source Sweet Wormwood Artemisia annua Herb monograph → Source Tarragon Artemisia dracunculus Herb monograph → Source Tea Camellia sinensis Herb monograph → Source Tick Trefoil Desmodium spp. Herb monograph → Source Tribulus Tribulus terrestris Herb monograph → Source Willow Salix alba Herb monograph → Source Winged-Stem Passionflower Passiflora alata Herb monograph → Source Wireweed Sida acuta Herb monograph → Source Wood Betony Stachys officinalis Herb monograph → Source Wormwood Artemisia absinthium Herb monograph → Source Yarrow Achillea millefolium Herb monograph → Source Yerba Maté Ilex paraguariensis Herb monograph →
Also found in
Apple Monograph coming soon
Apples Monograph coming soon
Buckwheat Monograph coming soon
Capers Monograph coming soon
Cranberry Monograph coming soon
Kale Monograph coming soon
Onion Monograph coming soon
Onion skin Monograph coming soon

Concentration

Content by Source

Reported concentrations across the plants that contain quercetin — the bar marks the typical level, the line shows the reported range.

Typical level Reported range mg/100 g
Capers (Capparis spinosa) pickled flower bud 149–324 [23]
Lovage (Levisticum officinale) leaves 170 [23]
Radish (Raphanus sativus) leaves 70 [23]
Dill (Anethum graveolens) fresh weed 7–110 [23]
Red onion (Allium cepa) bulb, raw 6–192 [23]
Elderberry (Sambucus spp.) berry, raw 8–60 [23]
Kale (Brassica oleracea) leaf, raw 0–56 [23]
Cranberry (Vaccinium macrocarpon) berry, raw 7–28 [23]
Apple (Malus domestica) fruit, raw with skin 0–11 [23]

Literature figures for varying plant parts and preparations. Read them as a comparative guide, not exact assays.

Quercetin at a Glance

Quercetin is the most widely distributed flavonol in the human diet — the yellow pigment of onion skin and caper buds, and a constituent of most medicinal plants. In food and in plants it exists almost entirely as glycosides, sugar-attached forms such as rutin and isoquercitrin, rather than as the free molecule sold in capsules.

Its defining practical property is poor and erratic absorption. The sugar attached to it largely decides how much gets in, which is why quercetin from onions behaves differently from quercetin from a supplement, and why in-vitro concentrations rarely correspond to anything achievable in blood.

Where the human evidence is strongest is cardiovascular: blood pressure, with metabolic markers behind it. The antiviral interest that grew around it during the COVID-19 period rests on a different and much thinner footing.

What It's Used For

Quercetin is the most widely distributed flavonol in the plant kingdom — the yellow pigment behind onion skin, caper buds and countless herb extracts. It is one of the most heavily supplemented and studied plant molecules, yet its clinical story is modest and, above all, governed by one fact: the aglycone is poorly and erratically absorbed, circulates almost entirely as conjugated metabolites, and reaches plasma levels far below those used in most cell studies 18,19,20Reference 18Hollman PC et al. · 1997Relative bioavailability of the antioxidant flavonoid quercetin from various foods in manView study →Reference 19Graefe EU et al. · 2001Pharmacokinetics and bioavailability of quercetin glycosides in humansView study →Reference 20Mohos V et al. · 2020Inhibitory effects of quercetin and its main methyl, sulfate, and glucuronic acid conjugates on cytochrome P450 enzymes, and on OATP, BCRP and MRP2 transportersView study →.

Read the human evidence with that in mind — the effects that survive meta-analysis are small and dose-gated.

Best-supported:a small, dose-gated blood-pressure reduction (~3 mmHg systolic) — but only at ≥500 mg/day 1,2Reference 1Serban MC et al. · 2016Meta-analysisEffects of quercetin on blood pressure: a systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials (7 RCTs, n≈587)View study →Reference 2Huang H et al. · 2020Meta-analysisEffect of quercetin supplementation on plasma lipid profiles, blood pressure, and glucose levels — systematic review and meta-analysisView study →.
Mixed / subgroup-only:glucose, lipids and inflammatory markers shift a little in metabolically-ill people at high doses, but the meta-analyses disagree with one another 3,4,5Reference 3Arabi SM et al. · 2023Meta-analysisThe effects of quercetin supplementation on cardiometabolic outcomes — an umbrella review of meta-analyses of randomised controlled trialsView study →Reference 4Ostadmohammadi V et al. · 2019Meta-analysisEffects of quercetin supplementation on glycemic control among patients with metabolic syndrome and related disorders — systematic review and meta-analysis of RCTsView study →Reference 5Sahebkar A · 2017Meta-analysisEffects of quercetin supplementation on lipid profile — systematic review and meta-analysis of randomised controlled trialsView study →.
Good mechanism, thin human data:lowers uric acid via xanthine-oxidase inhibition (one solid small RCT) 9Reference 9Shi Y · 2016RCTQuercetin lowers plasma uric acid in pre-hyperuricaemic males — randomised, double-blinded, placebo-controlled, cross-over trial (n=22)View study →; stabilizes mast cells in vitro but has no convincing rhinitis trial with the pure molecule 13Reference 13Weng Z et al. · 2012Quercetin is more effective than cromolyn in blocking human mast cell cytokine release and inhibits contact dermatitis and photosensitivity in humansView study →.
Well-studied but trivial:the endurance / VO₂max benefit is essentially nil 16Reference 16Pelletier DM et al. · 2013Meta-analysisEffects of quercetin supplementation on endurance performance and maximal oxygen consumption — meta-analysis (7 studies, n=288)View study →.
The caveat that frames everything:the aglycone is poorly absorbed, circulates only as conjugates, and most test-tube activity uses concentrations you cannot reach by mouth 18,19,20Reference 18Hollman PC et al. · 1997Relative bioavailability of the antioxidant flavonoid quercetin from various foods in manView study →Reference 19Graefe EU et al. · 2001Pharmacokinetics and bioavailability of quercetin glycosides in humansView study →Reference 20Mohos V et al. · 2020Inhibitory effects of quercetin and its main methyl, sulfate, and glucuronic acid conjugates on cytochrome P450 enzymes, and on OATP, BCRP and MRP2 transportersView study →.
Evidence by IndicationStrength of support · Beta

Mechanisms

Target / pathwayEffectRelevant to
Radical scavenging / Nrf2 induction↓ oxidative stress, ↑ cellular glutathione
metabolic markersgeneral antioxidant
eNOS / nitric-oxide support + ACE inhibitionvasodilation, lower vascular tone
blood pressure
Xanthine-oxidase inhibition↓ uric-acid synthesis
uric acid & gout
Mast-cell / basophil stabilization↓ histamine, IL-8 & TNF release
allergy
NF-κB inhibition↓ pro-inflammatory transcription
metabolic inflammationantiviral rationale

Most of these are demonstrated at in-vitro concentrations (10–100 µmol/L of free aglycone) well above what oral dosing achieves in blood — see Pharmacokinetics below.

Pharmacokinetics

Quercetin’s defining pharmacological fact is poor, glycoside-dependent oral bioavailability — and the sugar attached to the molecule matters more than the dose. In the classic human comparison, the same nominal quercetin dose was absorbed best from onion glucosides (set at 100%), reaching only ~24% from the pure aglycone and ~17% from rutin (quercetin-3-O-rutinoside) 18Reference 18Hollman PC et al. · 1997Relative bioavailability of the antioxidant flavonoid quercetin from various foods in manView study →. The reason is the absorption site: glucosides are cleaved and taken up high in the small intestine (a fast, ~1 h peak), whereas rutin’s rhamnose–glucose disaccharide resists small-intestinal enzymes and must reach the colon to be freed by gut bacteria — giving a delayed, blunted, highly variable peak 18,19Reference 18Hollman PC et al. · 1997Relative bioavailability of the antioxidant flavonoid quercetin from various foods in manView study →Reference 19Graefe EU et al. · 2001Pharmacokinetics and bioavailability of quercetin glycosides in humansView study →. So “quercetin” is not one drug: isoquercitrin behaves nothing like rutin.

Whatever is absorbed is immediately conjugated, so free aglycone is essentially undetectable in blood — circulating quercetin is a mix of glucuronides, sulfates and the methylated metabolite isorhamnetin 19,20Reference 19Graefe EU et al. · 2001Pharmacokinetics and bioavailability of quercetin glycosides in humansView study →Reference 20Mohos V et al. · 2020Inhibitory effects of quercetin and its main methyl, sulfate, and glucuronic acid conjugates on cytochrome P450 enzymes, and on OATP, BCRP and MRP2 transportersView study →. The conjugates clear slowly (terminal half-lives ~11–28 h), so plasma accumulates modestly with daily dosing, but total concentrations stay low — typically well under 1–2 µmol/L even after gram-level doses 19Reference 19Graefe EU et al. · 2001Pharmacokinetics and bioavailability of quercetin glycosides in humansView study →. This is the crux of quercetin’s in-vitro-vs-in-vivo gap: much of its published bioactivity uses 10–100 µmol/L of free aglycone, one to two orders of magnitude above achievable plasma levels and in a form that barely exists in the body 20Reference 20Mohos V et al. · 2020Inhibitory effects of quercetin and its main methyl, sulfate, and glucuronic acid conjugates on cytochrome P450 enzymes, and on OATP, BCRP and MRP2 transportersView study →.

Clinical trials

Quercetin has been tested in dozens of small investigator-led RCTs — chiefly in blood pressure, metabolic markers and, recently, COVID-19 — but as a cheap, off-patent food molecule it attracts little registered industry trial activity, and several “quercetin” trials actually use branded phytosome or glycoside formulations.

CompletedPlannedTerminatedPreclinical
Many(small)Several—Extensive

Last checked: July 2026.

Monoamine oxidase (MAO) inhibition

Quercetin is one of the better-characterized flavonoid monoamine-oxidase inhibitors — a moderate, MAO-A-preferring inhibitor with a reported IC50 around 11 µM against MAO-A 17Reference 17Herraiz T · 2018Monoamine oxidase-A inhibition and associated antioxidant activity in plant extracts with potential antidepressant actionsView study →. This is sometimes invoked to explain the mood effects of quercetin-rich plants, but it is far weaker than the β-carboline inhibitors and, given quercetin’s low systemic and brain exposure, is more a footnote than a primary mechanism. See the natural MAO inhibitors guide for the full comparison.

Isolate vs. Plant Studies

Quercetin sits at an unusual crossroads: its human trials genuinely test the isolated molecule (or a supplement of it), yet its plant occurrence is almost entirely as something else. Two cautions follow.

First, the supplement is often not the plain aglycone. Several headline human trials — the allergy and COVID-19 studies especially — used better-absorbed derivatives (enzymatically-modified isoquercitrin) or a phytosome formulation rather than plain quercetin 10,14,15Reference 10Di Pierro F et al. · 2021RCTPotential clinical benefits of quercetin in the early stage of COVID-19 — second, pilot, randomised, controlled, open-label clinical trialView study →Reference 14Hirano T et al. · 2009Preventive effect of enzymatically modified isoquercitrin on ocular symptoms of Japanese cedar pollinosis (a quercetin glycoside derivative)View study →Reference 15Yamada S et al. · 2022RCTEffects of repeated oral intake of a quercetin-containing supplement on allergic reaction — randomised, placebo-controlled, double-blind parallel-group studyView study →. Their results describe those specific preparations, not necessarily generic quercetin powder.

A worked example of what that concentration buys. In murine cutaneous leishmaniasis, orally administered quercetin glycosides at 16 mg/kg/day matched the crude Kalanchoe pinnata aqueous extract at 320 mg/kg/day — controlling lesion growth and significantly reducing parasite load at a twentieth of the dose. Free quercetin at the same 16 mg/kg did the same, and plasma analysis of the extract-treated mice found quercetin and quercetin glucuronides to be the main circulating metabolites of the plant’s glycosides 29Reference 29Muzitano MF et al. · 2009AnimalOral metabolism and efficacy of Kalanchoe pinnata flavonoids in a murine model of cutaneous leishmaniasis — mouse in vivo animal modelView study →. That is the isolate-versus-extract trade in one number: a 20-fold concentration of activity into a defined molecule, and the loss of everything else the extract contained.

Second, in plants quercetin is stored as glycosides, not free aglycone — rutin, isoquercitrin, quercitrin, hyperoside, spiraeoside — which absorb very differently 18,19Reference 18Hollman PC et al. · 1997Relative bioavailability of the antioxidant flavonoid quercetin from various foods in manView study →Reference 19Graefe EU et al. · 2001Pharmacokinetics and bioavailability of quercetin glycosides in humansView study →. So a herb’s “quercetin content” is really its quercetin-yielding glycoside pool, and a whole-plant antioxidant effect can’t be assumed to be free quercetin. Across this database quercetin is named in the antioxidant flavonoid fraction of many herbs — bearberry, ginkgo, raspberry leaf, hibiscus, horsetail and others — almost always as part of a mixed extract and frequently as glycosides. A few monographs attribute specific activity to quercetin isolated from the plant (for example anti-psoriatic / antiproliferative activity from Smilax rhizome, or cytokine suppression by isolated quercetin), but most “quercetin” herb claims are whole-plant attributions. Read the supplement trials as evidence for the molecule (in a stated form), and the herb chemistry as evidence for the plants.

Prevalence in Nature

Quercetin is among the most ubiquitous of all plant flavonols, turning up across most flowering-plant lineages rather than a few families 21,22Reference 21Dabeek WM · 2019Dietary quercetin and kaempferol: bioavailability and potential cardiovascular-related bioactivity in humansView study →Reference 22Vollmannová A et al. · 2024ReviewQuercetin as one of the most abundant represented biological valuable plant components with remarkable chemoprotective effects — review (occurrence, biosynthesis, manufacture)View study →. The densest dietary sources cluster in a handful: capers (Capparis spinosa) by a wide margin, onion skin (Allium cepa), kale and other Brassica, leafy Apiaceae (dill, lovage), apple peel, Vaccinium berries (cranberry, lingonberry, blueberry), elderberry, buckwheat and tea 22,23Reference 22Vollmannová A et al. · 2024ReviewQuercetin as one of the most abundant represented biological valuable plant components with remarkable chemoprotective effects — review (occurrence, biosynthesis, manufacture)View study →Reference 23U.S · 2018Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research ServiceView study →. It concentrates in the metabolically exposed, UV-stressed organs — leaves, flower buds, fruit skins and outer scales — rather than in flesh or roots (see the Content-by-Source chart) 23Reference 23U.S · 2018Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research ServiceView study →.

Crucially, in living tissue quercetin is stored as glycosides, not the free aglycone: rutin (quercetin-3-O-rutinoside), isoquercitrin (3-O-glucoside), quercitrin (3-O-rhamnoside), hyperoside (3-O-galactoside) and onion’s spiraeoside (4’-O-glucoside). The food-table figures are “total quercetin” measured after acid hydrolysis of these conjugates — the plant’s quercetin-yielding potential, not its free-aglycone content 21,22Reference 21Dabeek WM · 2019Dietary quercetin and kaempferol: bioavailability and potential cardiovascular-related bioactivity in humansView study →Reference 22Vollmannová A et al. · 2024ReviewQuercetin as one of the most abundant represented biological valuable plant components with remarkable chemoprotective effects — review (occurrence, biosynthesis, manufacture)View study →.

Biosynthetically it is a flavonol built through the phenylpropanoid → flavonoid pathway: phenylalanine is converted (via PAL / C4H / 4CL) to p-coumaroyl-CoA, which chalcone synthase condenses with malonyl-CoA to naringenin; flavanone 3-hydroxylase and flavonoid 3’-hydroxylase then give dihydroquercetin (taxifolin), and flavonol synthase desaturates it to quercetin 22Reference 22Vollmannová A et al. · 2024ReviewQuercetin as one of the most abundant represented biological valuable plant components with remarkable chemoprotective effects — review (occurrence, biosynthesis, manufacture)View study →. The pathway is strongly up-regulated by UV-B and other stress, consistent with quercetin’s role as a plant sunscreen and antioxidant — hence its accumulation in sun-exposed peels and outer leaves. There is essentially no natural non-plant source: animals and ordinary bacteria do not make it, and it is absent from meat, dairy and eggs; the only non-botanical “source” is engineered microbial fermentation in the lab 22Reference 22Vollmannová A et al. · 2024ReviewQuercetin as one of the most abundant represented biological valuable plant components with remarkable chemoprotective effects — review (occurrence, biosynthesis, manufacture)View study →.

Discovery & Synthesis

Quercetin takes its name from the oak: from quercetum (“oak forest”), itself from the genus Quercus. The name has been in use since about 1857, applied to the yellow flavonol pigment characterized from plants in the mid-nineteenth century. Nineteenth-century flavonoid nomenclature was tangled, though — quercetin, quercitrin and rutin were described and renamed by several chemists across the 1840s–60s — and no single primary publication or first isolator can be reliably pinned, so the etymology and approximate date are solid but the “who” is not 22Reference 22Vollmannová A et al. · 2024ReviewQuercetin as one of the most abundant represented biological valuable plant components with remarkable chemoprotective effects — review (occurrence, biosynthesis, manufacture)View study →.

Commercially, quercetin is almost never made by total synthesis (laboratory routes to the flavonol skeleton exist but are not cost-competitive). Instead it is produced by acid hydrolysis of rutin: rutin is boiled with dilute acid, cleaving its rhamnose–glucose sugar to free the quercetin aglycone. The rutin feedstock is extracted in bulk from the flower buds of the Japanese pagoda tree (Sophora japonica, ~15–20% rutin by dry weight — the dominant global source) and the Brazilian legume fava d’anta (Dimorphandra mollis) 22Reference 22Vollmannová A et al. · 2024ReviewQuercetin as one of the most abundant represented biological valuable plant components with remarkable chemoprotective effects — review (occurrence, biosynthesis, manufacture)View study →.

Patents: not yet researched (future patent-loop pass).

Toxicity & Safety

Oral quercetin is generally well tolerated: human trials have used up to ~1 g/day for weeks to months with adverse effects usually limited to mild GI upset, headache or tingling — and its poor absorption is, ironically, part of that safety margin. The most-cited toxicity signal is route-specific and does not apply to supplements: a 1996 Phase I oncology trial gave quercetin by intravenous bolus and hit dose-limiting renal toxicity at 1700 mg/m², with a measurable acute drop in glomerular filtration even at the recommended dose 24Reference 24Ferry DR et al. · 1996Clinical trialPhase I clinical trial of the flavonoid quercetin — pharmacokinetics and evidence for in vivo tyrosine kinase inhibition (intravenous; dose-limiting nephrotoxicity)View study →. That is IV dosing that bypasses the gut and reaches plasma levels unattainable by mouth — not evidence that oral quercetin harms the kidneys.

The interactions matter more than the side effects, because quercetin is a promiscuous modulator of drug-handling enzymes and transporters. It inhibits CYP3A4 and P-glycoprotein and can disturb cyclosporine exposure — a real concern for transplant patients on that narrow-margin immunosuppressant 25,26Reference 25Choi JS et al. · 2004Effect of quercetin on the pharmacokinetics of oral cyclosporineView study →Reference 26Yu CP et al. · 2011Quercetin and rutin reduced the bioavailability of cyclosporine from Neoral, an immunosuppressant, through activating P-glycoprotein and CYP 3A4View study →. A week of quercetin raised exposure to fexofenadine (a P-glycoprotein / OATP substrate) by roughly 50% in healthy volunteers 27Reference 27Kim KA et al. · 2009Short-term effect of quercetin on the pharmacokinetics of fexofenadine, a substrate of P-glycoprotein, in healthy volunteersView study →. It displaces warfarin from serum albumin and inhibits CYP2C9, so caution and monitoring are prudent with anticoagulants 28Reference 28Poór M et al. · 2017Interaction of quercetin and its metabolites with warfarin — displacement of warfarin from serum albumin and inhibition of CYP2C9 enzymeView study →, and its circulating conjugates themselves inhibit several CYPs plus the OATP, BCRP and MRP2 transporters 20Reference 20Mohos V et al. · 2020Inhibitory effects of quercetin and its main methyl, sulfate, and glucuronic acid conjugates on cytochrome P450 enzymes, and on OATP, BCRP and MRP2 transportersView study →. A long-standing in-vitro caution — that high-dose flavonoids might antagonize fluoroquinolone antibiotics at their shared topoisomerase / gyrase target — remains theoretical rather than a documented clinical failure. Reasonable caution therefore applies to anyone on immunosuppressants, anticoagulants or multiple CYP3A4 / P-gp / OATP-substrate drugs, and to those with significant renal impairment.

Dosage

Human trials have most often used 500–1,000 mg/day of quercetin (usually the aglycone, sometimes a phytosome or glycoside form), and the recurring lesson is a dose threshold: blood-pressure, glucose and uric-acid effects appear only at ≥500 mg/day 1,4,9Reference 1Serban MC et al. · 2016Meta-analysisEffects of quercetin on blood pressure: a systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials (7 RCTs, n≈587)View study →Reference 4Ostadmohammadi V et al. · 2019Meta-analysisEffects of quercetin supplementation on glycemic control among patients with metabolic syndrome and related disorders — systematic review and meta-analysis of RCTsView study →Reference 9Shi Y · 2016RCTQuercetin lowers plasma uric acid in pre-hyperuricaemic males — randomised, double-blinded, placebo-controlled, cross-over trial (n=22)View study →. Divided or with-food dosing is common because absorption is low and glycoside-dependent.

ApplicationForm (studied)Dose (studied)Source
Blood pressureQuercetin aglycone≥500 mg/day1Reference 1Serban MC et al. · 2016Meta-analysisEffects of quercetin on blood pressure: a systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials (7 RCTs, n≈587)View study →
Fasting glucoseQuercetin aglycone≥500 mg/day, ≥8 wk4Reference 4Ostadmohammadi V et al. · 2019Meta-analysisEffects of quercetin supplementation on glycemic control among patients with metabolic syndrome and related disorders — systematic review and meta-analysis of RCTsView study →
Uric acidQuercetin aglycone500 mg/day9Reference 9Shi Y · 2016RCTQuercetin lowers plasma uric acid in pre-hyperuricaemic males — randomised, double-blinded, placebo-controlled, cross-over trial (n=22)View study →
Early COVID-19Quercetin phytosome500–1,000 mg/day (add-on)10Reference 10Di Pierro F et al. · 2021RCTPotential clinical benefits of quercetin in the early stage of COVID-19 — second, pilot, randomised, controlled, open-label clinical trialView study →

These are doses used in research and are not a personal recommendation — appropriateness depends on the individual, their medications (see interactions above) and professional guidance. Note that better-absorbed forms (isoquercitrin, phytosome) are not interchangeable milligram-for-milligram with plain quercetin.

References

  1. Serban MC, Sahebkar A, Zanchetti A, Mikhailidis DP, Howard G, Antal D, et al. (2016). Effects of quercetin on blood pressure: a systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials (7 RCTs, n≈587). Journal of the American Heart Association, 5(7), e002713. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/27405810/
  2. Huang H, Liao D, Dong Y, Pu R. (2020). Effect of quercetin supplementation on plasma lipid profiles, blood pressure, and glucose levels — systematic review and meta-analysis. Nutrition Reviews, 78(8), 615–626. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/31940027/
  3. Arabi SM, Shahraki Jazinaki M, Chambari M, et al. (2023). The effects of quercetin supplementation on cardiometabolic outcomes — an umbrella review of meta-analyses of randomised controlled trials. Phytotherapy Research. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/37654199/
  4. Ostadmohammadi V, Milajerdi A, Ayati E, Kolahdooz F, Asemi Z. (2019). Effects of quercetin supplementation on glycemic control among patients with metabolic syndrome and related disorders — systematic review and meta-analysis of RCTs. Phytotherapy Research, 33(5), 1330–1340. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/30848564/
  5. Sahebkar A. (2017). Effects of quercetin supplementation on lipid profile — systematic review and meta-analysis of randomised controlled trials. Critical Reviews in Food Science and Nutrition, 57(4), 666–676. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/25897620/
  6. Tabrizi R, Tamtaji OR, Mirhosseini N, Lankarani KB, Akbari M, Dadgostar E, et al. (2020). The effects of quercetin supplementation on lipid profiles and inflammatory markers among patients with metabolic syndrome and related disorders — systematic review and meta-analysis of RCTs. Critical Reviews in Food Science and Nutrition, 60(11), 1855–1868. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/31017459/
  7. Mohammadi-Sartang M, Mazloom Z, Sherafatmanesh S, Ghorbani M, Firoozi D. (2017). Effects of supplementation with quercetin on plasma C-reactive protein concentrations — systematic review and meta-analysis of randomised controlled trials. European Journal of Clinical Nutrition, 71(9), 1033–1039. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/28537580/
  8. Ou Q, Zheng Z, Zhao Y, Lin W. (2020). Impact of quercetin on systemic levels of inflammation — meta-analysis of randomised controlled human trials. International Journal of Food Sciences and Nutrition, 71(2), 152–163. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/31213101/
  9. Shi Y, Williamson G. (2016). Quercetin lowers plasma uric acid in pre-hyperuricaemic males — randomised, double-blinded, placebo-controlled, cross-over trial (n=22). British Journal of Nutrition, 115(5), 800–806. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/26785820/
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