The title compound, also known as cis-zearalenone (cis-ZEN), C(18)H(22)O(5), has already been reported elsewhere [Griffin et al. (1981 ▶). ACA Ser.29, 35], but no atomic coordinates are publicly available. The mol-ecule is of inter-est with respect to its toxicity. In the crystal, intra-molecular O-H⋯O hydrogen bonds stabilize the mol-ecular conformation, while inter-molecular O-H⋯O hydrogen bonds link the mol-ecules to form infinite chains along the [110] and [1-10] directions. The absolute configuration has been assigned by reference to an unchanging chiral centre in the synthetic procedure.