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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
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
COMT-Inhibitor 1 *
Contraceptive 2 Martindale's 28th
Convulsant 1 Jeffery B. Harborne and H. Baxter, eds. 1983. Phytochemical Dictionary. A Handbook of Bioactive Compounds from Plants. Taylor & Frost, London. 791 pp.
Copper-Antagonist 1 Challem, J., Berkson, Burt, and Smith, Melissa Dianne. 2000.
Syndrome X - The complete nutritional program to prevent and reservse insulin resistance. John Wiley & Sons, New York. 272 pp. $24.95
Copper-Chelator 2 *
Cosmetic 2 Jeffery B. Harborne and H. Baxter, eds. 1983. Phytochemical Dictionary. A Handbook of Bioactive Compounds from Plants. Taylor & Frost, London. 791 pp.
COX-1-Inhibitor 2 *
COX-2-Inhibitor 7 *
Cyclooxygenase-Inhibitor 12 *
Cytochrome-P450-1A2-Inhibitor 1 *
Cytochrome-P450-2E1-Inhibitor 1 *
Cytoprotective 2 Newall, C. A., Anderson, L. A. and Phillipson, J. D. 1996. Herbal Medicine - A Guide for Health-care Professionals. The Pharmaceutical Press, London. 296pp.
Cytotoxic 5 *
Decalcifier 1 Merck 11th Edition
Deiodinase-Inhibitor 1 Jim Duke's personal files.
Deliriant 1 Davies, S., and Stewart, A. 1990. Nutritional Medicine. Avon Books, New York. 509pp.
Demulcent 2 *
Deodorant 1 Martindale's 29th
Depressant 2 Cooper-Driver, G. A., Chemical substances in plants toxic to animals, pp. 213-47 in Rechcigl, M., Jr., ed. CRC Handbook of Naturally Occurring Food Toxicants, CRC Press, Boca Raton, 1983, 339 pp.
Dermatitigenic 4 Jeffery B. Harborne and H. Baxter, eds. 1983. Phytochemical Dictionary. A Handbook of Bioactive Compounds from Plants. Taylor & Frost, London. 791 pp.