PQQ vs CoQ10: Two Quinones, Two Different Things

The Longevity Series · Comparison

PQQ vs CoQ10.

They're sold side by side so often that most people assume they're variations on a theme. They aren't. One is a bacterial cofactor with a legal 20mg ceiling; the other is a fat-soluble compound your body already makes, with no ceiling at all. And neither carries a single authorised UK health claim — which makes most of what you'll read about both of them unlawful.

Water vs fat soluble 20mg cap vs no cap Novel food vs not 0 authorised claims — either side

PQQ vs CoQ10 — comparison summary

PQQ and CoQ10 are both quinones and are frequently sold together, which is the main reason they are confused. They are different compounds. PQQ, pyrroloquinoline quinone, is a small water-soluble quinone first characterised as a redox cofactor in bacterial enzymes. It is supplied in supplements as PQQ disodium salt. In Great Britain and the European Union it is a regulated novel food, with a maximum permitted daily intake of 20 milligrams for adults and an authorised population that excludes pregnant and breastfeeding women. CoQ10, also called coenzyme Q10 or ubiquinone, is a larger fat-soluble quinone that the human body synthesises itself and which is present in cell membranes including the inner mitochondrial membrane. Its reduced form is ubiquinol; ubiquinone and ubiquinol are two oxidation states of the same compound rather than two different compounds. CoQ10 is not a novel food and has no legal daily ceiling in the United Kingdom, with supplement doses commonly ranging from about 30 to 200 milligrams per day. Solubility produces the main practical difference. CoQ10 is fat-soluble and is generally better absorbed when taken with a meal containing fat. PQQ is water-soluble and carries no equivalent requirement. Neither compound carries any authorised United Kingdom or European Union health claim. Claims submitted for CoQ10 were assessed and not authorised, and no claim has been authorised for PQQ. No product may therefore lawfully state what either compound does for energy, mitochondria, heart health, cognition or ageing. The widely marketed proposition that PQQ and CoQ10 act synergistically is not an authorised claim for either ingredient. Neither has a Nutrient Reference Value, so no percentage NRV figure may appear on a pack for either. CoQ10 may interact with warfarin and other anticoagulant medication. PQQ is excluded from use by pregnant and breastfeeding women under its authorisation. Neither is intended for children.

Why they get confused

Same chemical family. Almost nothing else in common.

Both are quinones, meaning both cycle readily between oxidised and reduced states. That's a real shared property and it's why both get described with the same "cellular energy" vocabulary in marketing. But sharing a chemical class is a weak similarity — glucose and cellulose are both carbohydrates.

CoQ10 is a large, fat-soluble molecule your body synthesises itself. It sits inside cell membranes, including the inner mitochondrial membrane, and it's a normal constituent of human tissue. You have it right now whether or not you supplement.

PQQ is a small, water-soluble molecule your body does not make. It was characterised in bacteria, where it serves as a cofactor for certain enzymes. You get trace amounts from food — natto, kiwi, green tea — in the region of 0.1 to 1mg a day.

So one is an endogenous compound you're topping up, and the other is an exogenous one you're introducing. That's a more meaningful difference than the shared quinone label suggests.

A frequent second confusion: ubiquinol is not a third thing. Ubiquinone and ubiquinol are the oxidised and reduced forms of the same CoQ10 molecule, and the body converts between them. If you're weighing those two against each other rather than against PQQ, that's a different question — see ubiquinol vs CoQ10.

Regulation

Two ingredients, two rulebooks.

This is where the practical shopping differences actually live, and almost nobody covers it.

  PQQ CoQ10
Novel food? Yes — authorised, with conditions No
Maximum daily intake 20mg for adults — a hard legal ceiling None set. Doses commonly ~30–200mg
Pregnancy / breastfeeding Excluded from the authorised population No regulatory exclusion; ask a professional
Nutrient Reference Value None None
Authorised health claims None None — submitted claims were not authorised
Known medicine interaction Speak to a pharmacist if on medication May interact with warfarin and other anticoagulants

The one that catches people out is the 20mg PQQ ceiling. Because CoQ10 has no cap, buyers reasonably assume PQQ works the same way and read a bigger number as a stronger product. It isn't. A UK-facing PQQ product at 40mg or 60mg per day hasn't been formulated to the GB authorisation — usually it was built for the United States, where PQQ is regulated as a dietary supplement with no equivalent limit. More on that in our PQQ buying guide.

Together

Should you take both?

You'll see PQQ and CoQ10 bundled constantly, usually with language about them working together on mitochondrial energy. We have to be blunt about that: that proposition is not an authorised claim for either ingredient, so no brand — including us — may lawfully present it as a reason to buy.

What we can tell you is the practical position. There's no known reason the two can't be taken together, they're chemically unrelated enough not to compete for the same absorption pathway, and plenty of people take both. If you do:

If you take both Why
Keep PQQ at or below 20mg/day It's a legal ceiling, and it applies regardless of what else you take
Take the CoQ10 with a meal containing fat It's fat-soluble; PQQ doesn't need this
Check for a hidden second source of PQQ Combination products can push your total over 20mg without either pack looking high
Ask a pharmacist if you take anticoagulants CoQ10 may interact with warfarin and similar medicines
Don't take PQQ if pregnant or breastfeeding An exclusion under the authorisation, not a precaution

And if you're choosing between them rather than combining: there's no authorised basis for us to steer you. They're different compounds under different rules, not a better and a worse option. Pick on the practical grounds above — solubility, dosing, cost, and whether the 20mg cap matters to you.

Straight Talk

What nobody is allowed to tell you.

This is the unusual thing about this particular comparison: both sides are claim-free. Most ingredient comparisons have at least one party with authorised claims to point at. Here, neither does.

Commonly marketed as… Status in Great Britain
"Supports cellular energy" Not authorised for PQQ or CoQ10
"Mitochondrial support" Not authorised for either
"Heart health" Not authorised for CoQ10 — submitted claims were assessed and rejected
"Cognitive function / mental clarity" Not authorised for either
"Healthy ageing" Not authorised for any food supplement ingredient
"PQQ and CoQ10 work synergistically" Not an authorised claim for either ingredient
Compositional statements — dose, form, solubility, origin Permitted. This is what the page above is built from

Search either ingredient and you'll find most of that top block on live UK product pages. It's worth knowing why: an ingredient with no authorised claims is commercially awkward, so the temptation to describe it anyway is strong. A brand willing to make unauthorised claims on the front of a pack is telling you something about the parts of its labelling you can't check — the dose accuracy, the testing, the sourcing.

On the research

Both compounds have published human studies. We describe those by study design only — how many participants, what dose, how long — and deliberately don't summarise outcomes, because with no authorised claim in place, characterising outcomes as benefits is making a claim. PQQ studies have generally used around 20mg daily over weeks to months in small groups. If you want the primary literature, search PubMed directly; our citations are on the research references page.

Next step

Buying PQQ?

Our guide applies the 20mg ceiling and the labelling checks to real products, and shows how to spot a PQQ supplement built for a different market.

FAQs

Common questions.

Different compounds that share a chemical class. Both are quinones, but PQQ is a small water-soluble molecule originally characterised as a bacterial enzyme cofactor and supplied as PQQ disodium salt, while CoQ10 is a much larger fat-soluble molecule your body makes itself and which sits in cell membranes. They also sit under different rules: PQQ is a novel food with a 20mg daily ceiling in GB; CoQ10 is not a novel food and has no ceiling.
Your call, and no brand has an authorised basis to recommend it. Neither carries an authorised UK or EU claim, so the widely marketed "synergy" idea isn't an authorised claim for either. Practically there's no known reason they can't be combined — but stay at or below 20mg PQQ daily, follow each pack, and speak to a pharmacist first if you take warfarin or another anticoagulant.
No. CoQ10 isn't a novel food and no legal maximum applies in the UK; doses commonly run from around 30mg to 200mg a day. PQQ is the unusual one — its authorisation caps adults at 20mg daily, so a UK PQQ product above that hasn't been formulated to the GB rules.
Neither — and no brand may lawfully say otherwise. With no authorised claims for either, there's no permitted basis for calling one better for any outcome. What you can compare honestly is chemistry, solubility, dosing conventions, regulatory status and cost. On those grounds they're different, not ranked.
Because it's fat-soluble, and fat-soluble compounds are generally better absorbed alongside dietary fat — which is why CoQ10 packs commonly advise taking them with a meal. PQQ is water-soluble and doesn't carry the same consideration. That's a physicochemical property, not a health claim, and it's one of the few genuinely practical differences.
Two forms of the same compound, not two compounds. CoQ10 is often sold as ubiquinone, the oxidised form; ubiquinol is the reduced form, and the body interconverts them. That's a separate question from PQQ vs CoQ10 — see our ubiquinol vs CoQ10 guide.
No — for either. No claim has been authorised for PQQ in GB or the EU, and claims submitted for CoQ10 were assessed and not authorised. So no product may lawfully tell you what either does for energy, mitochondria, heart health, cognition or ageing — and a great many do exactly that. Neither has an NRV, so no %NRV figure can appear on a pack for either.
PQQ, no. The novel food authorisation excludes pregnant and breastfeeding women — an exclusion, not a precaution. For CoQ10 there's no equivalent regulatory exclusion, but as with any supplement in pregnancy or breastfeeding, speak to a healthcare professional first. Neither is intended for children.
It may interact with warfarin and other anticoagulants, and monitoring is commonly advised in that situation. If you take any prescribed medication, speak to a pharmacist or doctor before starting CoQ10 or any supplement. This page is general information, not a substitute for that conversation.
Further Reading

Keep going.

About this comparison

Last reviewed 17 August 2026 by the Vitality Supplements Editorial Team, written to our published editorial standards and quality & testing policy. We sell PQQ, which we disclose openly. This is an unusual comparison in that neither ingredient carries an authorised UK health claim, so we have compared them on chemistry, solubility, regulatory status and dosing conventions only, and have explicitly listed the claims that are commonly made for both and are not permitted — including the "synergy" proposition that sells most PQQ-plus-CoQ10 bundles. We describe the research by study design rather than outcome for the same reason. Where we would otherwise summarise findings, we point to the primary literature instead.

Food supplements should not be used as a substitute for a varied, balanced diet and a healthy lifestyle. Do not exceed the stated recommended daily dose. PQQ disodium salt is a regulated novel food; the maximum permitted daily intake is 20mg for adults and the authorised population excludes pregnant and breastfeeding women. CoQ10 may interact with warfarin and other anticoagulant medication — consult a pharmacist or doctor if you take prescribed medication. There are no authorised UK or EU health claims for PQQ or for CoQ10, and no medicinal, disease, energy, mitochondrial, cardiovascular, cognitive or anti-ageing claims are made on this page. Neither is intended for children. If you are pregnant, breastfeeding or under medical care, consult a healthcare professional before use. This page is general information, not medical advice, and is not intended to diagnose, treat or prevent any condition. Every Vitality batch is independently tested. UK manufactured. Free UK delivery. 60-day satisfaction guarantee on first purchase. See our full disclaimer · Privacy · Terms · info@vitality-supplements.co.uk