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

Select a Results View:

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
ETHANOL 24 Bulb not available not available not available Duke, 1992 *
ETHYLENE 1 Bulb not available not available not available 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.
FAT 0 Bulb 1000.0 36079.0 1.00 Duke, 1992 *
FAT 0 Leaf 6000.0 77000.0 0.41 CRC Handbook of Medicinal Herbs and/or CRC Handbook of Proximate Analyses
FERULIC-ACID 61 Bulb not available 0.5 -1.00 Duke, 1992 *
FERULIC-ACID 61 Leaf not available not available not available Das, V. S. R., Rao, J. V. S. 1964. Phenolic Acids of Onion Plant. Curr. Sci., 33(15): 471-472.
FERULIC-ACID 61 Root not available not available not available Das, V. S. R., Rao, J. V. S. 1964. Phenolic Acids of Onion Plant. Curr. Sci., 33(15): 471-472.
FIBER 15 Bulb 4400.0 126000.0 1.00 Duke, 1992 *
FIBER 15 Leaf 11000.0 141000.0 -0.25 CRC Handbook of Medicinal Herbs and/or CRC Handbook of Proximate Analyses
FLUORINE 0 Bulb 0.0 0.8 not available ACTA AGRIC SCAND SUPPL 22: 1980
FRUCTOSAN 0 Bulb 100000.0 400000.0 1.00 Duke, 1992 *
FRUCTOSE 8 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.
FRUCTOSE 8 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.
FUMARIC-ACID 7 Bulb not available not available not available Duke, 1992 *
GAMMA-GLUTAMYL-LEUCINE 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-GLUTAMYL-PHENYLALANINE 0 Bulb not available not available not available Duke, 1992 *
GAMMA-GLUTAMYL-PHENYLALANINE-ETHYL-ESTER 0 Bulb not available not available not available Duke, 1992 *
GAMMA-GLUTAMYL-S-BETA-CARBOXY-BETA-METHYL-ETHYL-CYSTEINYL-GLYCINE 0 Bulb not available not available not available Virtamen, A. I., Matikkala, E. J. 1960. New Gamma-Glutamyl Peptides in Onion (Allium cepa). I. Gamma-glutamylphenylalanine and gamma-glutamyl-s-(beta-carboxy-beta-methylethyl)-cysteinylglycine. Suomen Kemistilehti, 33B: 83-84.
GAMMA-GLUTAMYL-S-METHYL-CYSTEINE 0 Plant not available not available not available J.S. Glasby Dict.Pls Containing 2ndary Metabolite. 1991.
GAMMA-L-GLUTAMYL-ARGININE 0 Bulb not available not available not available 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
Prolactinogenic 1 Pizzorno, J.E. and Murray, M.T. 1985. A Textbook of Natural Medicine. John Bastyr College Publications, Seattle, Washington (Looseleaf).
Proliferant 1 Duke, 1992 *
Prooxidant 5 Duke, 1992 *
Propecic 6 Duke, 1992 *
Prostaglandigenic 5 Duke, 1992 *
Prostaglandin-Sparer 1 Fujita, T., Nakatani, E., Funaishi, N., Sakuma, S., Fujimoto, Y. Potent inhibition of prostaglandin inactivation in rabbit gastric antral mucosal slices by selenium ions in-vitro. J. Pharm. Pharmacol. 42: 655-657, 1990.
Prostaglandin-Synthesis-Inhibitor 5 Duke, 1992 *
Prostaglandin-Synthetase-Inhibitor 1 Duke, 1992 *
Protein-Kinase-C-Inhibitor 2 Naim, M., Zehavi, U., Nagy, S., and Rouseff, R.L. Hydroxycinnamic Acids as Off-Flavor Precursors in Citrus Fruits and Their Products. Phenolic Compounds in Food and Their Effects on Health, Ch.14.
Protisticide 4 Martindale's 29th
PTK-Inhibitor 1 Duke, 1992 *
Pyrogenic 1 Conradson, T. B. G., Dixon, C. M. S., Clarke, B., Barnes, P. J. 1987. Cardiovascular Effects of Infused Adenosine in Man: Potentiation by Dipyridamole. Acta Physiol Scand, 129(3): 387-391.
Quinone-Reductase-Inducer 9 Madhavi, D. L., Bomser, J., Smith, M., Singletary, K. 1998. Isolation of Bioactive Constituents from Vaccinium myrtillus (Bilberry) Fruits and Cell Cultures. Plant Sci., 131(1): 95-103.
Radioprotective 2 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.
Refrigerant 1 Martindale's 28th
Renotoxic 1 Merck 11th Edition
Respirastimulant 1 Martindale's 29th
Retinoprotectant Optometry 1 Duke, 1992 *
Roborant 1 Merck 11th Edition
Rubefacient 1 Martindale's 29th