The clue was yellow

Cauliflower gave Frederick Crane a clue. Extracts from beef-heart mitochondria were brown; his cauliflower preparations were yellow. That difference drew his attention to fatty, vitamin-like substances in the samples.¹

This was the University of Wisconsin–Madison in the 1950s. In David Green’s laboratory, researchers were piecing together how cells generate usable energy. They were still searching for a connection between parts of the machinery.¹

Crane had trained in plant physiology. Working with cauliflower made the yellow material easier to notice, and following that clue helped lead to coenzyme Q. In 1957, he and his colleagues published their isolation of a quinone from beef-heart mitochondria.^1,2

The discovery gave a name to something already essential to us. CoQ10 participates in the chain of reactions through which mitochondria generate cellular energy. Our ancestors depended on that process just as we do. Their bodies were using CoQ10 as they walked, worked and digested a meal, centuries before anyone could identify the molecule.^1,3

Its connection to the past is biological. CoQ10 wasn’t an ancient herbal remedy passed from one household to another. Its supplement history begins with modern science learning to recognize a substance naturally present in the human body. Understanding that role doesn’t mean taking extra CoQ10 will necessarily make someone feel more energetic.^3,4

Our formulation contains 120 mg of CoQ10 as ubiquinone per liquid capsule, in an olive oil base.⁵ Its discovery story belongs to the laboratory: a researcher who knew plants, a question about energy and a color worth noticing.