Myricetin

Myricetin is a flavonol, a member of the flavonoid family, and when it is purified it forms light yellow crystals. Flavonoids as a group absorb ultraviolet light and collect in the outer cells of plants. Plants make more of them after UV exposure, so they are assumed to shield the plant. A 2021 plant review adds that there is very little direct proof of this in living plants.

Myricetin carries six hydroxyl (OH) groups, and three of them sit together on one ring.

It was first isolated in the late 18th century from the bark of an Indian tree, Myrica nagi, because people wanted its dye. Chemists sometimes call it hydroxyquercetin, since it looks like quercetin with one more OH group. That extra OH is also why it behaves differently from quercetin and kaempferol in the lab.

Here is what most readers do not know. Myricetin has been tested in people very little. A 2020 review said few clinical trials exist, and the only trial we found gave it inside a three-ingredient product.

What we have in people is mostly diet surveys. In cell studies, myricetin can act as an oxidant as well as an antioxidant. It is also not dihydromyricetin, a close relative: the two differ by one double bond, and the difference matters in the test tube.

Health benefits of myricetin

• ★A three-ingredient product lowered blood alcoholIn a small trial of 20 wine drinkers, a product with myricetin, silymarin and PQQ cut blood alcohol by 33%. It cannot show what myricetin does alone.
• Population studyLinked to lower death rates, including heart diseaseIn 11,679 US adults, higher intake went with 0.77 times the risk of death from any cause, and 0.61 times from heart disease.
• Population studyLinked to lower type 2 diabetes riskIn 8 European countries, 12,403 new cases of type 2 diabetes were compared with 16,154 people. Higher myricetin intake went with 0.77 times the risk.
• Population studyLinked to lower Alzheimer risk, but not declineIn older adults, the highest fifth of myricetin intake had 0.62 times the risk of Alzheimer dementia. In the same cohort, myricetin was not linked to slower decline in thinking.
• Population studyNo clear link with several cancersIn studies of women, myricetin was not linked to overall cancer risk or to ovarian cancer. In Chinese patients, it was not linked to esophageal cancer.

Foods high in myricetin

Cranberries and parsley lead the USDA ranking below, and the order depends on how you measure. Per 100 g, parsley comes first at 14.8 mg and cranberries second at 7.63 mg. Garlic (1.61 mg), blueberries (1.3 mg) and green tea (1.02 mg) follow.

Per serving, a cup of cranberries leads with 7.63 mg, ahead of a cup of green tea (2.5 mg) and blueberries (1.92 mg).

Serving size changes the picture. A tablespoon of parsley (3.8 g) holds only 0.56 mg, a little less than a 5 fl oz glass of red wine (0.62 mg). Tea matters because people drink a lot of it. A 2008 analysis of US diets found that tea was the major source of flavonols as a group.

How myricetin works

Most of what we know about how myricetin works comes from test tubes, cells and animals. Four ideas come up again and again. It can calm radicals (reactive, damaging molecules) but also make them, it blocks a growth-signal enzyme, and it slows a starch-digesting enzyme. And very little of it reaches the blood.

Here is each one, and what has been seen in people.

It can calm radicals, and it can also make them

The three OH groups together on one ring give myricetin a different profile from its relatives. In test tubes, how well a flavonol worked depended on the kind of radical.

Quercetin gave up hydrogen better than myricetin, and myricetin beat kaempferol. Against superoxide and hydroxyl radicals, myricetin ranked below both. The authors link that to the three-OH ring.

In cell dishes, myricetin can also make hydrogen peroxide by oxidizing itself. In one study of triple-negative breast cancer cells, that peroxide and the iron-driven reactions it set off were what killed the cells. Blocking either one stopped the damage.

Myricetin was less inhibiting to normal cells, but it made peroxide in their dishes too. A 2026 review also says it can act as a pro-oxidant when metal ions are present.

It blocks a growth-signal enzyme

MEK1 is an enzyme that passes growth signals along inside a cell. In mouse skin cells, myricetin at 10 µM blocked most of the cell transformation (the change to a cancer-like state) caused by two growth triggers. That was far more than resveratrol managed at 20 µM. It bound MEK1 directly without competing with the cell’s fuel molecule, ATP.

This is a lab result in one cell type. How much myricetin reaches such cells after a meal is a separate question, covered below.

It slows a starch-digesting enzyme

Alpha-glucosidase is an enzyme that helps break carbohydrate down into sugars, and blocking it delays carbohydrate digestion, according to the paper’s authors. In a 2026 test-tube study, myricetin blocked it as a competitive inhibitor. It was far more potent than dihydromyricetin, which differs only by lacking one double bond. By our arithmetic, it took about 33 times less myricetin to do the same job.

Very little reaches the blood

Myricetin dissolves poorly in water. A 2026 review blames that for its low bioavailability (how much the body absorbs), along with fast sulfation and glucuronidation. These are the body attaching sulfate or glucuronic acid to it.

In rats, only about a tenth of an oral dose reached the blood. We found no study of how much reaches the blood in people. So the concentrations used in cell work may not be reachable by eating food.

What has been seen in people

These effects are easier to show in a dish than in a person. The closest link is for blood sugar. The diet survey of 12,403 diabetes cases found 0.77 times the risk for myricetin, and mouse studies found lower glucose. But no human trial tested the enzyme idea.

The cell results on cancer are not echoed by most diet cohorts. The Women’s Health Study and the ovarian, lung and esophageal studies found no link, while some prostate, pancreatic and lean-women colorectal analyses did. All of these are among the study cards above.

Is myricetin safe? Supplements, dose and interactions

Myricetin from food is not a known safety concern. It is a normal part of berries, vegetables, tea and wine. A 2016 review found very few studies raising concerns about adverse effects, although most of that work was in cells and animals.

We found no opinion, acceptable daily intake or upper level for myricetin from EFSA, the FDA, Health Canada or the NIH Office of Dietary Supplements. So no official number can be given.

• Trial doses and side effects. We cannot name a dose that was studied in people. The only trial we found gave myricetin inside a three-ingredient product, and its abstract gives no myricetin dose and no side-effect results. A 2020 review notes that few clinical trials exist.
• High doses in animals and cells. A 2016 review reports no toxic effects or deaths in mice after 1,000 mg/kg injected into the abdomen. A 2026 review reports a lethal dose of 800 mg/kg in mice, with possible liver and kidney harm at high doses. The 2016 review also found that 450 µM damaged gut cells from guinea pigs in a dish. These are not doses people take.
• Drug interactions. In rats, myricetin raised the absorption of the cancer drug doxorubicin by 51 to 117%. It also blocked the enzyme CYP3A4 (half-blocked at 7.8 µM). A later test-tube study found only minor effects on CYP3A4, CYP2C9 and CYP2C19. But it found strong effects on the transporters OATP1B1 and OATP2B1. It had a moderate effect on the warfarin-binding site of albumin, a blood protein. We found no human interaction study, so this is a theoretical concern. If you take warfarin or other prescription drugs, ask your clinic or pharmacist before using a myricetin supplement.
• Pregnancy and children. We found no safety studies in pregnancy, breastfeeding or children, so ask your doctor before using a supplement.

How to get more myricetin

• Best food. Parsley holds the most per 100 g at 14.8 mg, but you eat it by the pinch. A cup of cranberries (7.63 mg) is the biggest source per serving in the USDA ranking.
• Do not boil it long. In a water test, myricetin degraded quickly in boiling water, and adding vitamin C raised the share left after 100 minutes from 32.8% to 91.4%. That was a lab solution, not a cooked meal, but it suggests keeping heat short.
• Food versus supplement. Only 9.6 to 9.7% of an oral dose reached the blood in rats, and we found no human absorption study. No trial shows that a supplement does more than food, and the diet studies above are about food.

History of myricetin

Myricetin was first isolated in the late 18th century from the bark of Myrica nagi, harvested in India, as light yellow crystals. Interest in it was sparked mainly by its use as a dye. Later the chemist Perkin characterized it, set its melting point at 357 °C, and described its sugar-bound form myricitrin for the first time. He also found that breaking it down yields phloroglucinol and gallic acid, which helped confirm its structure.

Making it in the lab took a while. A first attempt in 1925 by Dean and Nierenstein did not work, and in the same year Kalff and Robinson succeeded. A 2016 review says myricetin has also been used to preserve foods that contain oils and fats, because it protects fats against oxidation.

Myricetin also sits in a traditional drink. Vine tea has been used as an herbal tea by several ethnic minorities in China for hundreds of years. A 2021 review lists dihydromyricetin and myricetin among its major bioactive compounds.

Frequently asked questions about myricetin

What does myricetin do for the body?

No one knows yet, because it has barely been tested in people. In large diet surveys, higher myricetin intake went with lower risk of type 2 diabetes (0.77), death from any cause (0.77) and Alzheimer dementia (0.62). These are associations, and the cancer studies mostly found nothing. Mouse studies found lower blood glucose and cholesterol.

Which foods are high in myricetin?

Parsley and cranberries lead. Per 100 g, USDA lists parsley at 14.8 mg, cranberries at 7.63 mg, garlic at 1.61 mg and blueberries at 1.3 mg. Per serving, a cup of cranberries holds 7.63 mg, a cup of green tea 2.5 mg and a cup of blueberries 1.92 mg.

Does myricetin help with blood sugar or diabetes?

There is a hint, not proof. In the EPIC-InterAct study of 12,403 new diabetes cases, higher myricetin intake went with 0.77 times the risk of type 2 diabetes. A meta-analysis of 21 mouse studies found lower blood glucose and insulin, and a test-tube study found that myricetin blocks a starch-digesting enzyme. No human trial has tested myricetin for blood sugar.

Is myricetin good for the brain?

The evidence is mixed. In 921 older adults, the highest myricetin intake went with 0.62 times the risk of Alzheimer dementia. Adults with mild cognitive impairment also ate less of it.

But in 961 adults followed for about 7 years, myricetin was not linked to the rate of decline in global cognition. Rat studies are encouraging, but none is a trial in people.

Does myricetin have side effects?

We found no reported side effects in people, but that reflects how little has been studied. The only trial we found tested a three-ingredient product, and its abstract does not report safety results. Animal and cell work points to possible drug interactions and possible harm at very high doses. Ask a clinician before taking a supplement, especially if you take prescription drugs.

What is the difference between myricetin and dihydromyricetin?

They differ by one double bond, and that changes how they behave. Dihydromyricetin lacks the C2=C3 double bond that myricetin has.

In a 2026 test-tube study, it took 453.9 µM of dihydromyricetin and only 13.6 µM of myricetin to block half of the enzyme alpha-glucosidase. Vine tea contains both compounds. We found no head-to-head human trial.

Myricetin vs quercetin: which is better?

No one can say, because they have not been compared in trials. Myricetin has three OH groups on one ring and quercetin has two, and in test tubes quercetin gave up hydrogen better. In one cohort, myricetin was linked to Alzheimer risk (0.62) and quercetin was not (0.69, a result that could be chance). In a later analysis of the same cohort, quercetin was linked to slower global decline and myricetin was not.

Does cooking destroy myricetin?

Long boiling can. In a water test, myricetin degraded quickly in boiling water, and adding vitamin C raised the share left after 100 minutes from 32.8% to 91.4%. The test used a pure solution, not a cooked meal, so treat it as a hint that short cooking is gentler.