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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

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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
PAF-Inhibitor 3 *
Papain-Inhibitor 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.
Parasiticide 1 Martindale's 29th
Parasympathomimetic 1 Neuwinger, H. D. 1996. African Ethnobotany - Poisons and Drugs. Chapman & Hall, New York. 941 pp.
Pemphigenic 1 My Rodale Press Green Farmacy Draft, miscellaneous abstracts.
Percutaneostimulant 2 Seki, T., Toeda, C., Kawaguchi, T., Juni, K., Sugibayashi, K., and Morimoto, Y. 1990. Enhanced Transdermal Delivery of Zidovudine in Rats and Human Skin. Chem. Pharm. Bull. 38(11): 3086-3089, 1990.
Perfumery 7 Aloe Research Council - Duke writeup of non-peer reviewd book by Coats and draft by Henry
Peristaltic 1 *
Pesticide 49 *
PGE2-Inhibitor 1 *
Phagocytotic 6 Pizzorno, J.E. and Murray, M.T. 1985. A Textbook of Natural Medicine. John Bastyr College Publications, Seattle, Washington (Looseleaf).
Phospholipase-Inhibitor 1 *
Phytoalexin 1 Nigg, H.N. and Seigler, D.S., eds. 1992. Phytochemical Resources for Medicine and Agriculture. Plenum Press, New York. 445 pp.
Phytohormonal 1 *
Piscicide 1 ANON. 1948-1976. The Wealth of India raw materials. Publications and Information Directorate, CSIR, New Delhi. 11 volumes.
Pituitary-Stimulant 1 *
Plasmodicide 1 Neuwinger, H. D. 1996. African Ethnobotany - Poisons and Drugs. Chapman & Hall, New York. 941 pp.
Polyamine-Synthesis-Inhibitor 1 *
Preservative 2 Merck 11th Edition
Progesteronigenic 1 Medline (post 1990 searches filed in my computer)