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Dr. Duke's Phytochemical and Ethnobotanical Databases
U.S. Department of Agriculture
  1. Home
  2. Allium cepa

Allium cepa (Liliaceae)

Common Names
Onion; Shallot
How this plant is used
Food
View the list of ubiquitous chemicals
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List of plant chemicals.
Click on column headings to sort table by that column. *Unless otherwise noted all references are to (Duke, 1992)
Chemical Name Activity Count Plant Part Low Parts Per Million High Parts Per Million Standard Deviation Reference
2-PROPENYL-L-CYSTEINE-SULFOXIDE 0 Bulb Thomas, D. J., Parkin, K. L. 1994. Quantification of Alk(en)yl-L-Cysteine Sulfoxides and Related Amino Acids in Alliums by High-Performance Liquid Chromatography. J. Agr. Food Chem., 42(8): 1632-1638.
24-METHYLENE-CYCLOARTANOL 5 Bulb Itoh, T., Tamura, T., Mitsuhashi, T., Matsumoto, T. 1977. Sterols of Liliaceae. Phytochemistry, 16: 140-141.
24-METHYLENE-CYCLOARTENOL 0 Bulb *
28-ISOFUCOSTEROL 0 Bulb Itoh, T., Tamura, T., Mitsuhashi, T., Matsumoto, T. 1977. Sterols of Liliaceae. Phytochemistry, 16: 140-141.
3,4-DIMETHYL-2,5-DIOXO-2,5-DIHYDROTHIOPHENE 0 Bulb *
3,4-DIMETHYL-2,5-DIOXO-2,5-DIHYDROTHIOPHENE 0 Essential Oil Albrand, M., Dubois, P., Etievant, P., Gelin, R., Tokarska, B. 1980. Identification of a New Volatile Compound in Onion (Allium cepa) and Leek (Allium porum): 3,4-dimethyl-2,5-dioxo-2,5-dihydrothiophene. J. Agric. Food Chem., 28(5): 1037-1038.
3,4-DIMETHYLTHIOPHENE 0 Bulb Leung, A.Y., Encyclopedia of Common Natural Ingredients Used in Food, Drugs, and Cosmetics, John Wiley & Sons, New York, 1980.
3,4-DIMETHYLTHIOPHENE 0 Essential Oil Albrand, M., Dubois, P., Etievant, P., Gelin, R., Tokarska, B. 1980. Identification of a New Volatile Compound in Onion (Allium cepa) and Leek (Allium porum): 3,4-dimethyl-2,5-dioxo-2,5-dihydrothiophene. J. Agric. Food Chem., 28(5): 1037-1038.
31-NORCYCLOARTENOL 0 Bulb Itoh, T., Tamura, T., Mitsuhashi, T., Matsumoto, T. 1977. Sterols of Liliaceae. Phytochemistry, 16: 140-141.
31-NORLANOSTENOL 0 Bulb Itoh, T., Tamura, T., Mitsuhashi, T., Matsumoto, T. 1977. Sterols of Liliaceae. Phytochemistry, 16: 140-141.
4-ALPHA-METHYL-ZYMOSTENOL 0 Bulb Itoh, T., Tamura, T., Mitsuhashi, T., Matsumoto, T. 1977. Sterols of Liliaceae. Phytochemistry, 16: 140-141.
4-HYDROXY-BENZOIC-ACID 0 Bulb Das, V. S. R., Rao, J. V. S. 1964. Phenolic Acids of Onion Plant. Curr. Sci., 33(15): 471-472.
4-HYDROXY-BENZOIC-ACID 0 Leaf Das, V. S. R., Rao, J. V. S. 1964. Phenolic Acids of Onion Plant. Curr. Sci., 33(15): 471-472.
4-HYDROXY-BENZOIC-ACID 0 Root Das, V. S. R., Rao, J. V. S. 1964. Phenolic Acids of Onion Plant. Curr. Sci., 33(15): 471-472.
5-DEHYDRO-AVENASTEROL 0 Seed Kintia, P. K., Degtiaryova, L. P., Balashova, N. N., Shvets, S. A. 1987. Sterols and Steroidal Glycosides of Bulb Onion Seeds. Fecs. Int. Conf. Chem. Biotechol. Biol. Act. Nat. Prod., (Proc.) 3rd: 166-170.
5-HEXYL-CYCLOPENTA-1,3-DIONE 2 Bulb *
5-METHYL-2-N-HEXYL-2,3-DIHYDROFURAN-3-ONE 0 Bulb Wealth of India.
5-OCTYL-CYCLOPENTA-1,3-DIONE 2 Bulb *
6(G)-BETA-FRUCTOSYL-SUCROSE 0 Bulb Bacon, J. S. D. 1959. Trisaccharide Fraction of Some Monocotyledons. Biochem. J., 73: 507-514.
9,10,13-TRIHYDROXY-OCTADEC-11-ENOIC-ACID 0 Bulb *
View the list of ubiquitous chemicals
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List of plant activities.
Click on column headings to sort table by that column. *Unless otherwise noted all references are to (Duke, 1992)
Activity Chemical Count Reference
11B-HSD-Inhibitor 2 *
5-Alpha-Reductase-Inhibitor 5 *
5-HT-Inhibitor 1 *
5-Lipoxygenase-Inhibitor 9 *
Abortifacient 1 *
Acantholytic 1 My Rodale Press Green Farmacy Draft, miscellaneous abstracts.
Acaricide 1 *
Acarifuge 1 *
ACE-Inhibitor 3 *
Acetylcholinergic 1 *
Acidifier 1 Jeffery B. Harborne and H. Baxter, eds. 1983. Phytochemical Dictionary. A Handbook of Bioactive Compounds from Plants. Taylor & Frost, London. 791 pp.
Acidulant 3 Jeffery B. Harborne and H. Baxter, eds. 1983. Phytochemical Dictionary. A Handbook of Bioactive Compounds from Plants. Taylor & Frost, London. 791 pp.
Additive 2 Aloe Research Council - Duke writeup of non-peer reviewd book by Coats and draft by Henry
Adjuvant 1 Merck 11th Edition
Aggregant 1 Pizzorno, J.E. and Murray, M.T. 1985. A Textbook of Natural Medicine. John Bastyr College Publications, Seattle, Washington (Looseleaf).
Albuminurigenic 1 Commission E. Blumenthal,M.,Hall,T. and Rister,R.S. eds.1997.The ABC's German Commission E Monographs - Therapeutic Monographs on Medicinal Plants for Human Use by Commission E - A Special Expert Committee of the German Federal Health Agency.ABC.Austin TX
Alcohol-Dehydrogenase-Inhibitor 1 LAWSON in Koch, H. P. and Lawson, L. D., eds. 1996. Garlic- The
Science and therapeutic application of Allium sativum L. and related species. Williams & Wilkins, Baltimore. 329 pp.
Aldehyde-Oxidase-Inhibitor 2 *
Aldose-Reductase-Inhibitor 9 Jeffery B. Harborne and H. Baxter, eds. 1983. Phytochemical Dictionary. A Handbook of Bioactive Compounds from Plants. Taylor & Frost, London. 791 pp.
Allelochemic 3 Lydon, J. & Duke, S., The potential of pesticides from plants, pp. 1-41 in Craker, L. & Simon, J., eds, Herbs, Spices & Medicinal Plants: Recent Advances in Botany, Horticulture, & Pharmacology, v. 4, Oryx Press, Phoenix, 1989, 267pp.