An official website of the United States government.

Official websites use .gov
A .gov website belongs to an official government organization in the United States.

Secure .gov websites use HTTPS
A lock ( ) or https:// means you've safely connected to the .gov website. Share sensitive information only on official, secure websites.

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
Download these results as:
CSV
EXCEL
PDF
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
1(F)-BETA-FRUCTOSYL-SUCROSE 0 Bulb Bacon, J. S. D. 1959. Trisaccharide Fraction of Some Monocotyledons. Biochem. J., 73: 507-514.
1-(METHYLSULFINYL)-PROPYL-METHYL-DISULFIDE 1 Bulb *
1-(PROPYL-DITHIO)-PROPANE 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.
1-METHYLDITHIO-PROPANE 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.
1-METHYLTRITHIO-PROPANE 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.
1-O-CAFFEOYL-BETA-D-GLUCOSE 0 Leaf *
1-O-FERULOYL-BETA-D-GLUCOSE 0 Leaf *
1-O-P-COUMAROYL-BETA-D-GLUCOSE 0 Leaf *
1-PROPYLTRITHIO-PROPANE 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.
2,3-DIMETHYL-(DL)-BUTANE-CIS-1-CIS-DITHIAL-S,S'-DIOXIDE 0 Bulb Block, R., Bayer, T. 1990. (z,z)-d-1,2,3-dimethyl-1,4-butanedithial-s,s'-dioxide: A Novel Bilogically Active Organosulfur Compound from Onion. J. Amer. Chem. Soc., 112(11): 4584-4585.
2,3-DIMETHYL-5,6-DITHIA-BICYCLO(2,2,1)HEXANE-5-OXIDE 0 Bulb *
2,3-DIMETHYLTHIOPHENE 0 Bulb Kimura, K., Nishimura, H., Kimura, I., Iwata, I., Mizutani, J. 1984. Flavor Components of Roasted Onion. I. Changes in Flavor Components of Onion by Roasting. Nippon Eiyo Shokuryo Gakkaishi, 37(4): 343-347.
2,4-DIMETHYLTHIOPHENE 0 Bulb Kimura, K., Nishimura, H., Kimura, I., Iwata, I., Mizutani, J. 1984. Flavor Components of Roasted Onion. I. Changes in Flavor Components of Onion by Roasting. Nippon Eiyo Shokuryo Gakkaishi, 37(4): 343-347.
2,4-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.
2,5-DIMETHYLTHIOPHENE 0 Bulb *
2,5-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.
2-METHYL-BUT-2-EN-1-AL 0 Bulb Wilkens, W. F. 1962. The Isolation and Identification of the Lachrymogenic Compound of Onion. Diss. Abstr. Int. B, 22: 3978.
2-METHYL-BUT-2-EN-1-AL 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.
2-METHYL-BUTYR-2-ALDEHYDE 0 Bulb Wilkens, W. F. 1964. Isolation and Identification of the Lachrymogenic Compound of Onion. Cornell Univ., Agr. Expt. Sta. Mem. No., 385: 31 pp.
2-METHYL-PENT-2-EN-1-AL 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.
View the list of ubiquitous chemicals
Download these results as:
CSV
EXCEL
PDF
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
Antitic 1 Davies, S., and Stewart, A. 1990. Nutritional Medicine. Avon Books, New York. 509pp.
Antitinnitic 1 Werbach, M. 1993. Healing with Food. Harper Collins, New York, 443 pp.
Antitriglyceride 3 Werbach, M. 1993. Healing with Food. Harper Collins, New York, 443 pp.
Antitrypanosomic 3 Planta Medica, 57: A44, 1991.
Antitubercular 3 *
Antitumor 25 Lewis and Elvin-Lewis, Medical Botany, ca 1977
Antitumor (Bladder) 2 *
Antitumor (brain) 1 *
Antitumor (Breast) 8 *
Antitumor (Cervix) 2 *
Antitumor (CNS) 1 *
Antitumor (Colon) 9 *
Antitumor (Esophagus) 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.
Antitumor (Esophagus)? 1 Davies, S., and Stewart, A. 1990. Nutritional Medicine. Avon Books, New York. 509pp.
Antitumor (Forestomach) 1 *
Antitumor (Gastric) 1 *
Antitumor (Intestine) 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.
Antitumor (Kidney) 1 Chiang, L. C., Chiang, W., Chang, M. Y., Ng, L. T., Lin, C. C. 2003. Antileukemic activity of selected natural products in Taiwan. Am J Chin Med, 31(1):37-46.
Antitumor (Liver) 3 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.
Antitumor (Lung) 9 *