In the most recent study, published in February 2010, the Boone group used quercetin alone, but not in athletes. Instead they conducted their trial with untrained individuals. Even without the addition of green tea and fish oil, they reported a distinct benefit. In this study, 26 adult males took quercetin (1,000 mg/day) or a placebo. They were given 12-minute time trials on treadmills. Those taking quercetin went almost 3% farther during their 2nd time trial, while those taking placebo actually went about 1% less than their initial distance on their 2nd attempt. Increases from 16% to 25% in the measured levels of mitochondrial RNA and DNA suggest that muscle cells were building new mitochondria, but these numbers did not reach statistical significance.
Not all studies of untrained subjects have shown benefit in exercise performance. An October 2009 paper reported the work of Cureton et al from the University of Georgia who randomly gave 30 untrained individuals either 1,000 mg/day quercetin or placebo mixed with PowerAde