Quercitrin is a

glycoside In chemistry, a glycoside is a molecule in which a sugar is bound to another functional group via a glycosidic bond. Glycosides play numerous important roles in living organisms. Many plants store chemicals in the form of inactive glycosides. ...

formed from the

flavonoid Flavonoids (or bioflavonoids; from the Latin word ''flavus'', meaning yellow, their color in nature) are a class of polyphenolic secondary metabolites found in plants, and thus commonly consumed in the diets of humans. Chemically, flavonoids ...

quercetin Quercetin is a plant flavonol from the flavonoid group of polyphenols. It is found in many fruits, vegetables, leaves, seeds, and grains; capers, red onions, and kale are common foods containing appreciable amounts of it. It has a bitter flavor ...

and the deoxy sugar rhamnose. Austrian chemist Heinrich Hlasiwetz (1825-1875) is remembered for his chemical analysis of quercitrin. It has also been investigated as a potential dietary supplement.

Occurrence

Quercitrin is a constituent of the dye quercitron. It can be found in Tartary buckwheat (''

Fagopyrum tataricum ''Fagopyrum tataricum'', also known as Tartary buckwheat, green buckwheat, ku qiao, Tatar buckwheat, or bitter buckwheat, is a domesticated food plant in the genus '' Fagopyrum'' in the family Polygonaceae. With another species in the same genus ...

'') and in oaks species like the North American white oak (''

Quercus alba ''Quercus alba'', the white oak, is one of the preeminent hardwoods of eastern and central North America. It is a long-lived oak, native to eastern and central North America and found from Minnesota, Ontario, Quebec, and southern Maine south as ...

'') and English oak (''

Quercus robur ''Quercus robur'', the pedunculate oak, is a species of flowering plant in the beech and oak family, Fagaceae. It is a large tree, native plant, native to most of Europe and western Asia, and is widely cultivated in other temperate regions. It ...

'').Analysis of oak tannins by liquid chromatography-electrospray ionisation mass spectrometry. Pirjo Mämmelä, Heikki Savolainen, Lasse Lindroos, Juhani Kangas and Terttu Vartiainen, Journal of Chromatography A, Volume 891, Issue 1, 1 September 2000, Pages 75-83, It is also found in '' Nymphaea odorata'' or '' Taxillus kaempferi''.The constituents of Taxillus kaempferi and the host, Pinus thunbergii. I. Catechins and flavones of Taxillus kaempferi. Konishi T, Nishio T, Kiyosawa S, Fujiwara Y and Konoshima T, Yakugaku Zasshi., February 1996, volume 116, issue 2, pages 148-157 (article in Japanese),

Metabolism

The enzyme quercitrinase catalyzes the chemical reaction between quercitrin and H₂O to yield L-rhamnose and quercetin.

References

Quercetin glycosides Flavonol rhamnosides {{aromatic-stub