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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
ASCORBIC-ACID 112 Leaf 390.0 5000.0 0.02 *
ASH 0 Bulb 4000.0 63000.0 -1.00 *
ASH 0 Leaf 7000.0 90000.0 -0.51 CRC Handbook of Medicinal Herbs and/or CRC Handbook of Proximate Analyses
ASPARAGINE 2 Bulb *
ASPARTIC-ACID 3 Bulb 640.0 6967.0 -1.00 USDA's Ag Handbook 8 and sequelae)
BARIUM 0 Bulb 4.0 28.0 *
BENZYL-ISOTHIOCYANATE 20 Bulb Dorsch, W., Adam, O., Weber, J., Ziegeltrum, T. 1985. Antiasthmatic Effects of Onion Extracts - Detection of Benzyl- and Other Isothiocyanates (Mustard Oils) as Antiasthmatic Compounds of Plant Origin. Eur. J. Pharmacol., 107(1): 17-24.
BETA-CAROTENE 53 Bulb 0.0 52.0 1.00 *
BETA-CAROTENE 53 Flower 28.0 -0.19 *
BETA-CAROTENE 53 Leaf 12.0 158.0 -0.45 CRC Handbook of Medicinal Herbs and/or CRC Handbook of Proximate Analyses
BETA-SITOSTEROL 47 Bulb 120.0 510.0 -1.00 *
BETA-SITOSTEROL 47 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.
BETA-SITOSTEROL 47 Seed Oil Grujic-Injac, B., Basarevic-Dinic, L., Lajsic, S., Stefanovic, D. 1985. Chemical Analysis of Seed Oil of the Onion (Allium cepa). Hrana Ishrana, 25: 167-169 (Inst Ishr Vet Fak Belgrade, Yugoslavia)
BETA-TOCOPHEROL 0 Seed *
BETA-TOCOPHEROL 0 Seed Oil Grujic-Injac, B., Basarevic-Dinic, L., Lajsic, S., Stefanovic, D. 1985. Chemical Analysis of Seed Oil of the Onion (Allium cepa). Hrana Ishrana, 25: 167-169 (Inst Ishr Vet Fak Belgrade, Yugoslavia)
BORON 4 Bulb 1.0 45.0 1.00 *
BRASSICASTEROL 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.
BROMINE 0 Bulb 1.0 15.0 ACTA AGRIC SCAND SUPPL 22: 1980
CADMIUM 3 Bulb 0.0 0.4 *
CAFFEIC-ACID 102 Bulb *
View the list of ubiquitous chemicals
Download these results as:
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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
Hyperuricemic 1 Martindale's 28th
Hypnotic 3 Martindale's 29th
Hypoammonemic 1 Jeffery B. Harborne and H. Baxter, eds. 1983. Phytochemical Dictionary. A Handbook of Bioactive Compounds from Plants. Taylor & Frost, London. 791 pp.
Hypoarginanemic 1 Martindale's 29th
Hypocalcemic 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.
Hypocholesterolemic 27 *
Hypoglycemic 17 *
Hypolipemic 1 *
Hypolipidemic 4 *
Hypotensive 17 Cunane, S. and Thompson, L. U., eds. 1995. Flaxseed in Human Nutrition. AOCS Press, Champaign IL. 384 pp.
Hypothermic 1 *
Hypouricemic 1 *
ICAM-1-Inhibitor 1 *
Ileorelaxant 1 *
Immunomodulator 12 Economic & Medicinal Plant Research, 6: 189.
Immunostimulant 13 Cunane, S. and Thompson, L. U., eds. 1995. Flaxseed in Human Nutrition. AOCS Press, Champaign IL. 384 pp.
Immunosuppressant 3 *
Inflammatory 1 *
iNOS-Inhibitor 2 *
Inotropic 2 *