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.

Plant Allium cepa (Liliaceae)

Common Names
Onion; Shallot
How this plant is used
Food
View the list of ubiquitous chemicals
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
TYROSINE 8 Bulb 290.0 3161.0 -1.00 USDA's Ag Handbook 8 and sequelae)
VALINE 3 Bulb 270.0 2943.0 -1.00 Duke, 1992 *
VANILLIC-ACID 24 Bulb not available 258.0 1.00 Duke, 1992 *
VIT-B-6 0 Bulb 1.0 18.0 not available USDA's Ag Handbook 8 and sequelae)
WATER 0 Bulb 866000.0 918000.0 0.78 Duke, 1992 *
WATER 0 Leaf not available 922000.0 0.57 CRC Handbook of Medicinal Herbs and/or CRC Handbook of Proximate Analyses
XYLITOL 10 Bulb not available not available not available Counsell, J. N., Roberton, D. J. 1976. Xylitol-A Sweetener Which is Kind to the Teeth. Food Process Ind., 45(54): 24-26.
XYLOSE 3 Bulb not available not available not available Sinha, A. 1959. Chemical Examination of Allium cepa. I. Glycosidic and Sugar Fractions. Indian J. Appl. Chem., 22: 89-91.
ZEAXANTHIN 5 Bulb not available not available not available Granado, F., Olmedilla, B., Blanco, I., Rojas-Hidalgo, E. 1992. Carotenoid Composition in Raw and Cooked Spanish Vegetables. J. Agr. Food Chem., 40(11): 2135-2140.
ZINC 77 Bulb 2.0 53.0 1.41 Duke, 1992 *
ZINC 77 Seed not available 34.0 -0.32 Duke, 1992 *
ZIRCONIUM 0 Bulb 0.8 1.0 not available Duke, 1992 *
View the list of ubiquitous chemicals
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
Bruchiphobe 2 Jacobson, M., Glossary of Plant-Derived Insect Deterrents, CRC Press, Inc., Boca Raton, FL, 213 p, 1990.
Calcium-Antagonist 4 Duke, 1992 *
Calcium-Channel-Blocker 1 Duke, 1992 *
Calmodulin-Antagonist 1 Pizzorno, J.E. and Murray, M.T. 1985. A Textbook of Natural Medicine. John Bastyr College Publications, Seattle, Washington (Looseleaf).
cAMP-Phosphodiesterase-Inhibitor 3 Duke, 1992 *
Cancer-Preventive 43 Stitt, P. A. Why George Should Eat Broccoli. Dougherty Co, Milwaukee, WI, 1990, 399 pp.
Cancer-Preventive (Esophagus) 1 Abstract (See species file)
Candidicide 5 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.
Capillarigenic 1 Duke, 1992 *
Capillariprotective 2 Merck 11th Edition
Carcinogenic 7 Duke, 1992 *
Cardiac 1 Ozaki, Y. and Ma, J-P. 1989. Inhibitory Effects of Tetramethylpyrazine and Ferulic Acid on Spontaneous Movement of Rat Uterus in Situ. Chem. Pharm. Bull. 38(6): 1620-1623, 1990.
Cardiodepressant 1 Duke, 1992 *
Cardiomyopathogenic 1 Davies, S., and Stewart, A. 1990. Nutritional Medicine. Avon Books, New York. 509pp.
Cardioprotective 12 Duke, 1992 *
Cardiotonic 1 Duke, 1992 *
Cardiotoxic 1 Duke, 1992 *
Cardiovascular 1 Borchard, R. E., Barnes, C. D., and Eltherton, L. G. 1991. Drug Dosage in Laboratory Animals: A Handbook. (3rd Ed.) The Telford Press, Inc., P. O. Box 287, Caldwell NJ 07006.
Caspase-8-Inducer 1 Duke, 1992 *
Catabolic 3 Tramil