IngredientsCydonia oblonga Miller (quince) is a monotypic genus in the Rosaceae family. The quince is a nondrought-tolerant small deciduous tree with fruits that look like pears and a superficial and fasciculate root system. It is considered an important medicinal plant throughout the world, native to the Mediterranean region and Central Asia, where it has a long history of medicinal and ethnobotanical use. The single accepted species in the genus, Cydonia oblonga, is also listed in the literature under the synonym Cydonia vulgaris Pers. The plant is popular for its medicinal, nutritional, and ornamental uses, and carries the synonyms "Bahee Dana," "Strythion," and "Safarjal" across different cultures.
Quince is thought to have originated in Türkiye or the Kashmir valley and spread to areas of Europe and the Mediterranean through trade. The Greeks first discovered the fruit on the island of Crete in the ancient city of Cydonia, which is where the Latin name of the genus originates.
When exposed to air, the white-yellow pulp becomes hard, or sour, bitter, and acidic, making it unfit for consumption as a fresh product — though a few cultivars can be eaten raw — but when mature, the quince has a pleasant, durable, and powerful flavor.
It is important to distinguish Cydonia oblonga (Western quince) from two related but distinct Rosaceae species sometimes referred to as "quince" in the literature: the Chinese quince (Pseudocydonia sinensis), which belongs to a different genus but has very similar medicinal properties, and is used in traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) to treat arthritis, rheumatoid disorders, hepatitis, and trigeminal neuralgia. A third related plant, Chaenomeles species (Japanese or flowering quince), is also sometimes grouped in the broader ethnobotanical literature on quince.
In Greek mythology, quince was regarded as the sacred fruit of the goddess of love Aphrodite, and was considered a symbol of happiness, fertility, and love. Romans and Greeks used quince in wedding ceremonies as a token of love and during wedding feasts as a symbolic dessert. The quince was highly regarded in Greek and Roman times for its medicinal properties, as well as a token of love and happiness.
Medieval Islamic scholars, like Avicenna, recorded quince as both a culinary and medicinal plant, noting its mild diuretic properties when consumed as a decoction. In the framework of traditional Persian (Iranian) medicine, quince leaves were often used as an antiseptic, and tea from the leaves was used to treat stomach cramps, fever, colds, cough, diarrhea, and hyperglycemia.
In medieval Europe, quince earned a reputation as a symbol of love and fertility; pressed as quince jam or jelly ("membrillo" in Spain), it was served at weddings. By the 17th century, herbalists in Britain recommended quince seeds poulticed for abscesses and to ease coughs. Listed in Grieve's A Modern Herbal (1931), quince is described as demulcent, astringent, and antidiarrheal. The fruit may be made into syrup and taken for diarrhea. The seeds are very mucilaginous and taken internally treat diarrhea and inflammation of the gastrointestinal tract. Topically, the seeds make a good compress, poultice, ointment, or lotion for burns, chaps, ulcers, and cuts, and to soothe the eyes. Quince can also be used as a mouthwash or gargle for mouth and throat inflammations.
Quince jams and jellies were used on Spanish and Portuguese expedition ships to combat scurvy due to the fruit's high vitamin C content. Spanish and Portuguese explorers brought quince back to their countries, where it assimilated into local food cultures. Quince has been used since ancient times as an ingredient in jams and jellies due to its high pectin content.
Quince (Cydonia oblonga Mill.) is used in traditional Chinese medicine for lowering blood pressure, lowering blood lipids, relieving cough and reducing phlegm, stimulating appetite and stopping diarrhea. It is mostly used for the treatment of cardiovascular diseases and gastrointestinal diseases.
The seeds, fruit, leaves, and roots of quince have been used to treat gastrointestinal disorders (including peptic ulcers and irritable bowel disease), insomnia, nervousness, fever, cough, colds, flu, urinary tract disorders, diabetes, migraines, and conjunctivitis. Quince fruit has been used to treat dysentery, hepatic disorders, uterine hemorrhages, and wounds, and the seeds have been traditionally used as an astringent, demulcent, or emollient.
Cydonia oblonga, commonly known as quince, is rich in useful secondary metabolites such as phenolics, steroids, flavonoids, terpenoids, tannins, sugars, organic acids, and glycosides. Several compound classes have been identified in the different parts of the plant, including flavonoids (anthocyanins, flavones, flavan-3-ols, and flavonols), phenolic acids (both hydroxycinnamics and hydroxybenzoics), low-molecular-weight phenolics (tyrosol equivalents), lignans, and stilbenes.
In the pulp and peel specifically: the pulps contained mainly caffeoylquinic acids (3-, 4-, and 5-O-caffeoylquinic acids and 3,5-dicaffeoylquinic acid) and one quercetin glycoside, rutin. The peels presented the same caffeoylquinic acids and several additional flavonol glycosides. The peels also contain quercetin 3-galactoside, kaempferol 3-glucoside, kaempferol 3-rutinoside, and several other unidentified kaempferol and quercetin glycosides acylated with p-coumaric acid. The highest content of phenolics was found in peels.
In the seeds: quince seeds present a phenolic profile composed of 3-O-caffeoylquinic, 4-O-caffeoylquinic, 5-O-caffeoylquinic, and 3,5-dicaffeoylquinic acids, as well as the flavone glycosides lucenin-2, vicenin-2, stellarin-2, isoschaftoside, schaftoside, 6-C-pentosyl-8-C-glucosyl chrysoeriol, and 6-C-glucosyl-8-C-pentosyl chrysoeriol.
Quince fruit presents significant amounts of shikimic and quinic acid derivatives, as well as flavonoids and procyanidins. Compared with apple, quince fruit composition was characterized by the presence of 4-caffeoylshikimic acid, 4-caffeoyl quinic acid, quercetin-3,7-diglucoside, and kaempferol-3-O-rhamnoside.
The polysaccharide mucilage, glucuronoxylan, is extruded from seeds of C. oblonga and is used in dermal patches to heal wounds. Quince seeds extrude mucilage when soaked in water. This mucilage is a high-molecular-weight heteropolysaccharide composed primarily of 4-O-methyl-D-glucurono-D-xylan residues and constitutes a major fraction of the dried seed coat.
Six identified organic acids constitute the organic acid profile of quince seeds: citric, ascorbic, malic, quinic, shikimic, and fumaric acids.
The free amino acid profile of quince seeds is composed of 21 identified free amino acids, the three most abundant being glutamic and aspartic acids and asparagine.
Quince is a good source of organic acids, sugars (primarily fructose, glucose, and sucrose), dietary fiber, pectin, and various vitamins, including vitamins A, B, C, and E, as well as minerals such as phosphorus, potassium, sodium, and calcium. The fruit is used in the food industry as a source of pectin, which protects colonic tissue from damage in irritable bowel syndrome and peptic ulcer.
Quince seeds contain sterols, triterpenes, and tannins as active phytochemicals. Essential oils, phenolic compounds, organic acids, tetracyclic sesterterpenes, and ionone glycosides are present in different parts of quince. In addition, the seeds contain sterols, triterpenes, amygdalin, and tannins.
Fresh quince fruit and processed quince products can be a very good source of bioactive ingredients in the diet, such as tannins (3.64 ± 0.06 mg/100 g in fresh fruit; ranging from 2.22 ± 0.02 mg/100 g to 5.59 ± 0.15 g/100 g in products), carotenoids (44.98 ± 0.18 mg/100 g in fresh fruit), and polyphenolic compounds (246.98 ± 6.76 mg GAE/100 g in fresh fruit; from 364.53 ± 3.76 mg/100 g to 674.21 ± 4.49 mg/100 g in products). Quince fruit and quince products are also characterized by high antioxidant properties (452.41 ± 6.50 µM TEAC/100 g in fresh fruit; 520.78 ± 8.56 µM TEAC/100 g to 916.16 ± 6.55 µM TEAC/100 g in products).
Regarding the peel specifically, quince peels contain high levels of total polyphenols (43.99 mg gallic acid equivalents/g dw), total flavonoids (3.86 mg rutin equivalents/g dw), chlorogenic acid (2.12 mg/g dw), and ascorbic acid (543.93 mg/100 g dw), as well as antioxidant activity of 627.73 µmol AAE/g and 699.61 µmol DPPH/g as evidenced by FRAP and DPPH assays, respectively.
Quince's health benefits have been recognized since ancient times, and it has been used in traditional medicine and scientific research as an astringent, antiseptic, hepatoprotective, and anti-inflammatory agent. Its well-established health benefits are primarily attributed to phenolic content, which exhibits high antioxidant activity.
This is the area with the strongest available human clinical data for quince, though the body of evidence remains limited in scale.
GERD in children (double-blind RCT): A double-blind, randomized controlled clinical trial (RCT) by Zohalinezhad et al. evaluated GERD symptoms (severity and frequency of vomiting, refusal of eating, difficulty swallowing, choking, burping, and abdominal pain) before and after a 4-week intervention using standardized scoring. Comparison of two groups showed a significant difference in vomiting, refusal of eating, burping, and abdominal pain at 4 and 6 weeks after the intervention (p < 0.05). However, difficulty in swallowing and choking showed no significant difference between groups after 2, 4, and 6 weeks. The comparison of total scores between the two groups showed significant differences at 2, 4, and 6 weeks after the intervention. It is notable that there was no significant difference in efficacy between quince syrup and omeprazole in this study.
GERD in pregnancy (open-label RCT): Shakeri et al. compared 4 weeks of ranitidine (150 mg, twice daily) with quince sauce (QS) at 10 mg after meals in 137 pregnant women with GERD. General Symptom Score (GSS) and Major Symptom Score (MSS) were compared at baseline, 2 weeks, and 4 weeks. After 2 weeks, the mean GSS score of the QS group was significantly lower compared with the ranitidine group (p = .036). However, at the end of the study (4 weeks), the GSS value showed no significant difference between groups (p = .074). The authors concluded that the efficacy of QS for the management of pregnancy-related GERD is similar to ranitidine.
Nausea and vomiting of pregnancy (RCT vs. vitamin B6): A randomized clinical trial compared quince (Cydonia oblonga) fruit with vitamin B6 in 76 pregnant women with gestational age of 6–14 weeks and mild-to-moderate nausea and vomiting (NVP); 40 were in the quince group and 36 in the B6 group. The Pregnancy-Unique Quantification of Emesis (PUQE-24) scale was used to measure NVP severity. Quince syrup (1 tablespoon three times daily) or vitamin B6 tablets (20 mg three times daily) were used for 1 week. The PUQE score decreased from 9.5 (± 2) at baseline to 5.2 (±2.3) on day 7 and 5.3 (±2.6) on day 14 (p < .001) in the quince group. In the vitamin B6 group, the scores were 8.4 (±1.8), 7.3 (±2.4), and 7.7 (±3.8), respectively. The change in symptoms was more marked in the quince group (p < .001). Quince syrup appears to be a suitable treatment for NVP.
Evidence assessment: The clinical evidence for quince in GERD and pregnancy-related nausea/vomiting is preliminary but positive, derived from a small number of RCTs with limited sample sizes. Replication in larger, blinded, multi-center trials is needed before firm conclusions can be drawn.
A systematic review by Amerizadeh et al. (2022) found no human studies on quince's cardiovascular effects; all identified studies were conducted on animal or in vitro models. Reviewing all 12 included articles, different types of quince extract showed positive effects on cardiovascular-related factors including blood pressure, diabetes, glucose metabolism, lipid profile, ROS, body weight, liver dysfunction, and thrombosis in animal models. The antihypertensive effect of quince was comparable in magnitude to captopril, and the lipid-lowering effect of quince was comparable in magnitude to simvastatin. However, two studies evaluated the effect of quince fruit extract on insulin levels; one reported no positive effect, and the other reported a significant positive effect.
One study found a significant reduction in serum lipids and a similar thickness of atheroma in both control and intervention groups in animals treated with a methanolic fraction of leaf extract, confirming the potential of the traditional use of the plant to treat metabolic and cardiovascular diseases.
Evidence assessment: Evidence for cardiovascular benefits is limited to animal and in vitro models. No human clinical trials are available as of the most recent systematic review (2022). This body of work paves the way for further studies on the cardiovascular effect of quince consumption as a beneficial nutraceutical in humans.
The quince fruits are rich in antioxidants and compounds with proven anti-inflammatory, anticancer, antiallergic, and immunomodulatory effects. Their phytochemicals effectively regulate glycemia and improve the blood lipid profile, suggesting potential antidiabetic and cardioprotective benefits. These conclusions are drawn primarily from in vitro assays and preclinical animal models; no large-scale human RCTs specifically on anti-inflammatory outcomes have been published.
Reported dermatological effects include antioxidant, antimicrobial, anti-inflammatory, anti-allergic, UV-protective, moisturizing, and anti-aging effects, as well as beneficial outcomes in conditions such as wound healing, erythema, and hyperpigmentation.
Skin moisturizing (small in vivo human study): A randomized, single-blind study used a stable cosmetic emulgel containing 4% Cydonia oblonga fresh fruit extract; thirteen healthy female volunteers were selected for a three-month study period. The extract showed good phenolic and flavonoid content, associated with good antioxidant and tyrosinase-inhibiting activity. The emulgel showed a reduction in sebum and erythema, while elasticity and moisture content showed increments in their levels. The fruit's content of chlorogenic acid and sugars may account for its anti-inflammatory and sebum reduction effects, and its capacity to enhance skin hydration and decrease skin sagging.
Atopic dermatitis (animal model): Topical application of ethanol extract of quince seeds was investigated in NC/Nga mice with atopic dermatitis symptoms, and the direct effect on keratinocytes was evaluated using the human keratinocyte cell line HaCaT. Preliminary application of the extract markedly reduced house dust mite allergen-induced skin lesions.
Fibroblast proliferation and wound healing: The polysaccharide mucilage, glucuronoxylan from seeds of C. oblonga, is used in dermal patches to heal wounds. In vitro evidence suggests that quince seed mucilage enhances proliferation of human skin fibroblasts, which are cells responsible for new connective tissue formation during wound repair.
Evidence assessment: Most evidence in dermatology is preclinical (in vitro and animal studies) or from very small human pilot studies. The small sample sizes and short durations of published human studies limit their generalizability.
A hot-water extract of quince fruit was found effective against IgE-stimulated late-phase allergic reactions of mast cells in in vitro research. Human data on antiallergic effects are not available. A commercial lemon-quince preparation (Gencydo®) has been investigated in vitro for immunomodulatory and antiallergic properties, with findings suggesting inhibition of allergic mediators, but this is a combination product and the independent contribution of quince cannot be established from the published data.
A wide range of pharmacological activities like antioxidant, antibacterial, antifungal, anti-inflammatory, hepatoprotective, cardiovascular, antidepressant, antidiarrheal, hypolipidemic, diuretic, and hypoglycemic have been ascribed to various parts of C. oblonga. Antimicrobial and antifungal activities have been demonstrated in in vitro assays, but clinical human studies on this use are not available.
Quince leaf extract has been found effective against diabetes and cancer and hemolysis in preclinical models. Animal model studies show hypoglycemic effects. Two studies evaluated the effect of quince fruit extract on insulin levels in animal models; one reported no positive effect, and the other reported a significant positive effect, indicating inconsistent results that preclude definitive conclusions without human trial data.
Different parts of C. oblonga are known to demonstrate a broad spectrum of biological activities against cancer cell proliferation in preclinical studies. Evidence for anticancer effects is entirely in vitro and preclinical; no human clinical data are available.
Standardized therapeutic dosages for quince have not been established by any major regulatory body. The following dosages appear in published clinical or preclinical research and are reported here solely as they appeared in the studies:
The reviewed literature indicates that no adverse health effects or safety concerns have been documented following the administration of C. oblonga at established therapeutic dosages. In animal safety studies, the aqueous-methanolic seed extract was found safe up to 4 g/kg dose in mice. In a sub-chronic toxicity study, no significant alteration in blood chemistry of extract-treated rats was observed, except for reduction in low-density cholesterol levels. Acute toxicity evaluation of quince mucilage-based networks proved that the mucilage-based network was safe for oral drug delivery systems.
In the pregnancy GERD clinical trial comparing quince sauce to ranitidine, no adverse effects were reported.
Caution is warranted when using preparations derived from whole seeds, such as quince mucilage, due to the presence of cyanogenic glycosides. Upon ingestion, these compounds, although typically present in low concentrations, may undergo enzymatic hydrolysis in the gastrointestinal tract, leading to the release of hydrogen cyanide, a potentially toxic volatile compound. It should be noted that the specific compound amygdalin is listed among the constituents of quince seeds in the phytochemical literature, which is the same cyanogenic glycoside found in related Rosaceae seeds (apple pips, bitter almonds). Standard mucilage preparations derived from processed seed coats involve soaking and filtration, not ingestion of whole or crushed seeds, which reduces but may not fully eliminate this risk.
No well-documented drug–quince interactions have been confirmed in human clinical research. Given the demonstrated antihypertensive and hypoglycemic effects in animal models, the theoretical possibility exists that quince preparations could additively interact with antihypertensive drugs (e.g., ACE inhibitors, calcium channel blockers) or antidiabetic agents (e.g., insulin, metformin), potentially intensifying their effects. These concerns are hypothetical extrapolations from preclinical pharmacological findings and have not been demonstrated in humans.
As a member of the Rosaceae family — which includes apples, pears, cherries, and strawberries — quince theoretically shares allergenic proteins with other members of this family. Individuals with confirmed oral allergy syndrome to other Rosaceae fruits should exercise caution, although no clinical case series specifically documenting quince-induced oral allergy syndrome have been identified in the literature accessed for this article.
The available clinical trials of quince syrup and sauce in pregnancy (for nausea and GERD) reported no adverse effects. However, the trials are small, and quince seed preparations containing amygdalin should be distinguished from fruit-only preparations in safety assessments for pregnancy use.
Confusion exists in the literature due to three distinct species commonly called "quince": Cydonia oblonga (true/Western quince), Pseudocydonia sinensis (Chinese quince), and Chaenomeles spp. (Japanese/flowering quince). At least two cardiovascular studies were excluded from a major systematic review specifically because they concerned Japanese quince and Chinese quince rather than Cydonia oblonga. When interpreting research, species identification is critical as phytochemical profiles and pharmacological properties differ substantially among these plants.
Health conditions that Quince may help support.
Body systems that Quince may help support.
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