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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
CHOLEST-7-EN-3-BETA-OL 0 Bulb not available not available not available Itoh, T., Tamura, T., Mitsuhashi, T., Matsumoto, T. 1977. Sterols of Liliaceae. Phytochemistry, 16: 140-141.
CHOLESTEROL 1 Bulb not available not available not available Duke, 1992 *
CHOLESTEROL 1 Seed not available not available not available 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.
CHOLINE 20 Bulb not available 830.0 not available Dakshinamurti, K. 1955. Choline Content of South Indian Foods. Curr. Sci., 24: 194-195.
CHROMIUM 24 Bulb 0.1 4.0 1.00 Duke, 1992 *
CHROMIUM 24 Seed not available 4.8 0.02 Duke, 1992 *
CIS-1-(PROPENYL-DITHIO)-PROPANE 0 Essential Oil not available not available not available 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.
CIS-2,3-DIMETHYL-5,6-DITHIA-CYCLO(2,2,1)HEPTANE-5-OXIDE 0 Bulb not available not available not available Dorsch,W.,et.al.1988.Anti-Asthmatic Effects of Onions. Alk(en)ylsufinothoic Acid Alk(en)yl-Esters Inhib. Histamine Rel. Leukotriene & Thromboxane Biosyn. in Vitro and Counteract PAF & Allergen-Ind. Bronch. Obst. in Vivo. Biochem. Pharmacol., 37:4479-4486.
CIS-3,5-DIETHYL-1,2,4-TRITHIOLANE 0 Leaf not available not available not available Chemical Constituents of Oriental Herbs (3 diff. books)
CIS-METHYLSULPHINOTHIOIC-ACID-S-1-PROPENYLESTER 4 Bulb not available not available not available Duke, 1992 *
CIS-N-PROPYLSULPHINOTHIOIC-ACID-S-1-PROPENYLESTER 4 Bulb not available not available not available Duke, 1992 *
CIS-PROPANETHIAL-S-OXIDE 0 Bulb not available not available not available Block, E., Penn, R. E., Revelle, L. K. 1979. Structure and Origin of the Onion Lachrymatory Factor. A Microwave Study. J. Amer. Chem. Soc., 101: 2200-2201.
CIS-PROPANETHIOL-S-OXIDE 0 Bulb not available not available not available Duke, 1992 *
CIS-ZWEIBELANE 0 Bulb not available not available not available Calvey, E. M., Matusik, J. E., White, K. D., Betz, J. M., Block, E., Littlejohn, M. H., Naganathan, S., Putman, D. 1994. Off-Line Supercritical Fluid Extraction of Thiosulfinates from Garlic and Onion. J. Agric. Food Chem., 42(6): 1335-1341.
CITRIC-ACID 23 Bulb not available not available not available Soldatenkov, S. V., Mazurova, T. A., Ranteleev, A. N. 1960. Organic Acids of Onion and Spinach. Trudy Petergof Biol. Inst., Leningrad Gosudarst Univ Im AA Zhdanova, 18: 55-61.
CITRIC-ACID 23 Leaf not available not available not available Soldatenkov, S. V., Mazurova, T. A., Ranteleev, A. N. 1960. Organic Acids of Onion and Spinach. Trudy Petergof Biol. Inst., Leningrad Gosudarst Univ Im AA Zhdanova, 18: 55-61.
COBALT 2 Bulb 0.0 0.2 -1.00 Duke, 1992 *
COBALT 2 Seed not available 2.5 -0.10 Duke, 1992 *
COPPER 12 Bulb 0.3 11.0 0.11 Duke, 1992 *
COPPER 12 Seed not available 18.2 0.31 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
PAF-Inhibitor 3 Duke, 1992 *
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 Duke, 1992 *
Pesticide 49 Duke, 1992 *
PGE2-Inhibitor 1 Duke, 1992 *
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 Duke, 1992 *
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 Duke, 1992 *
Piscicide 1 ANON. 1948-1976. The Wealth of India raw materials. Publications and Information Directorate, CSIR, New Delhi. 11 volumes.
Pituitary-Stimulant 1 Duke, 1992 *
Plasmodicide 1 Neuwinger, H. D. 1996. African Ethnobotany - Poisons and Drugs. Chapman & Hall, New York. 941 pp.
Polyamine-Synthesis-Inhibitor 1 Duke, 1992 *
Preservative 2 Merck 11th Edition
Progesteronigenic 1 Medline (post 1990 searches filed in my computer)