The present invention provides an .alpha.-glycosyl
isoquercitrin-containing novel composition which has a high in vivo
absorbability, and hence exhibits a significant in vivo antioxidative
activity. The present invention further provides preparation methods for
such a composition. The composition contains a mixture of quercetin
glycosides represented by the following formula:
##STR00001##
wherein Glc represents a glucose residue, and n is 0 or a positive integer
of 1 or more,
includes at least a quercetin glycoside wherein n is 3, and satisfies the
following requirement (a):
(a) the total proportion of quercetin glycosides in which n is 3, and in
which other n values may be 1 or 2, or 1 and 2, is 50 mol % or more, and
the total proportion of quercetin glycosides wherein n is 4 or more is 15
mol % or less, in the composition. The composition can be prepared by
treating an enzymatically modified isoquercitrin with .beta.-amylase.