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
GAMMA-L-GLUTAMYL-CYSTEINE 0 Bulb not available not available not available Virtanen, A. I., Matikkala, B. J. 1961. New gamma-l-glutamyl Petides in Onion (Allium cepa). III. Suomen Kemistilehti, 34B: 53-54.
GAMMA-L-GLUTAMYL-ISOLEUCINE 0 Bulb not available not available not available Duke, 1992 *
GAMMA-L-GLUTAMYL-L-ARGININE 0 Bulb not available not available not available Matikkala, E. J., Virtanen, A. I. 1970. Isolation of gamma-l-glutamy-l-arginine and gamma-l-glutamyl-s-(2-carboxy-n-propyl)-l-cysteine from Allium cepa (Onion). Suomen Kemistilehti, 43(11): 435-438.
GAMMA-L-GLUTAMYL-L-VALINE 0 Bulb not available not available not available Virtanen, A. I., Matikkala, B. J. 1961. New gamma-l-glutamyl Petides in Onion (Allium cepa). III. Suomen Kemistilehti, 34B: 53-54.
GAMMA-L-GLUTAMYL-S(2-CARBOXY-N-PROPYL)L-CYSTEINE 0 Bulb not available not available not available Duke, 1992 *
GAMMA-L-GLUTAMYL-S-(1-PROPENYL)-CYSTEINE-SULFOXIDE 0 Bulb not available not available not available Virtanen, A. I., Matikkala, E. J. 1961. Structure of the Gamma-Glutamyl Peptide 4 Isolated from Onion (Allium cepa)-gamma-l-glutamyl-s-(1-propenyl)-cysteine sulfoxide. Suomen Kemistilehti, 34B: 84.
GAMMA-L-GLUTAMYL-S-(1-PROPENYL)L-CYSTEINE-SULFOXIDE 0 Bulb not available not available not available Duke, 1992 *
GAMMA-L-GLUTAMYL-S-(2-CARBOXY-BETA-METHYL-ETHYL)-CYSTEINYL-GLYCINE 0 Bulb not available not available not available Duke, 1992 *
GAMMA-L-GLUTAMYL-S-(2-CARBOXY-BETA-METHYL-ETHYL)-CYSTEINYL-GLYCINE-ETHYL-ESTER 0 Bulb not available not available not available Duke, 1992 *
GAMMA-L-GLUTAMYL-VALINE 0 Bulb not available not available not available Duke, 1992 *
GIBBERELLIN-A-4 0 Root not available not available not available Das, V. S. R., Rao, J. V. S. 1965. Onion Root Gibberellins. Curr. Sci., 34(1): 28.
GLUCOFRUCTAN 0 Bulb not available not available not available Osman, S. A. 1980. Chemical and Biological Studies of Onion and Garlic in an Attempt to Isolate a Hypoclycaemic Extract. Abstr. 4th Asian Symp. Med. Plants Spices Bangkok, Thailand, September 15-19: 117.
GLUCOFRUCTAN 0 Leaf not available not available not available Osman, S. A. 1980. Chemical and Biological Studies of Onion and Garlic in an Attempt to Isolate a Hypoclycaemic Extract. Abstr. 4th Asian Symp. Med. Plants Spices Bangkok, Thailand, September 15-19: 117.
GLUCOSE 7 Bulb not available not available not available Osman, S. A. 1980. Chemical and Biological Studies of Onion and Garlic in an Attempt to Isolate a Hypoclycaemic Extract. Abstr. 4th Asian Symp. Med. Plants Spices Bangkok, Thailand, September 15-19: 117.
GLUCOSE 7 Leaf not available not available not available Osman, S. A. 1980. Chemical and Biological Studies of Onion and Garlic in an Attempt to Isolate a Hypoclycaemic Extract. Abstr. 4th Asian Symp. Med. Plants Spices Bangkok, Thailand, September 15-19: 117.
GLUTAMIC-ACID 8 Bulb not available not available not available 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.
GLUTAMINE 5 Bulb not available not available not available Duke, 1992 *
GLUTAN 0 Bulb not available not available not available Duke, 1992 *
GLUTATHIONE 7 Bulb not available not available not available Ueda, Y., Taubuku, T., Miyajima, R. 1994. Composition of Sulfur-Containing Components in Onion and Their Flavor Characters. Biosci. Biotech. Biochem., 58(1): 108-110.
GLYCINE 12 Bulb 490.0 5341.0 1.00 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
Neuroprotective 3 Duke, 1992 *
Neurotoxic 1 Jeffery B. Harborne and H. Baxter, eds. 1983. Phytochemical Dictionary. A Handbook of Bioactive Compounds from Plants. Taylor & Frost, London. 791 pp.
Neurotransmitter 1 Duke, 1992 *
NF-kB-Inhibitor 4 Duke, 1992 *
NO-Genic 1 Duke, 1992 *
NO-Inhibitor 3 Duke, 1992 *
NO-Scavenger 1 Duke, 1992 *
NO-Synthase-Inhibitor 1 Duke, 1992 *
Occuloirritant 2 Duke, 1992 *
Odontolytic 1 Zebovitz, T. C. Ed. 1989. Part VII. Flavor and Fragrance Substances, in Keith L. H. and Walters, D.B., eds. Compendium of Safety Data Sheets for Research and Industrial Chemicals. VCH Publishers, New York. 3560-4253.
Ophthalmic-Antialkali 1 Jeffery B. Harborne and H. Baxter, eds. 1983. Phytochemical Dictionary. A Handbook of Bioactive Compounds from Plants. Taylor & Frost, London. 791 pp.
Ornithine-Decarboxylase-Inhibitor 4 Hagerman, A.E. Tannin-Protein Interactions. Phenolic Compounds in Food and Their Effects on Health, Ch.19.
Osmoregulator 1 Duke, 1992 *
Osteogenic 1 Davies, S., and Stewart, A. 1990. Nutritional Medicine. Avon Books, New York. 509pp.
Osteolytic 1 Duke, 1992 *
Oviposition-Stimulant 1 Jeffery B. Harborne and H. Baxter, eds. 1983. Phytochemical Dictionary. A Handbook of Bioactive Compounds from Plants. Taylor & Frost, London. 791 pp.
Ovulant 1 Duke, 1992 *
Oxidant 2 Larson, R.A. 1987. Review Article Number 30. The Antioxidants of Higher Plants. Phytochemistry. 27: 969-978.
P450-Inducer 1 Father Nature's Farmacy: The aggregate of all these three-letter citations.
P450-Inhibitor 1 Father Nature's Farmacy: The aggregate of all these three-letter citations.