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 Capsella bursa-pastoris (Brassicaceae)

Common Names
Shepherd's Purse
How this plant is used
Generally Recognized as Safe
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
FUMARIC-ACID 7 Plant not available 1400.0 not available Duke, 1992 *
GLUCONAPIN 1 Plant not available not available not available Duke, 1992 *
GLUCOSAMINE 1 Plant not available not available not available Nagai, K. 1960. Studies on Capsella bursa-pastoris. I. Carboxylic Acids, Amino Acids, Carbohydrates, Alcohols, and Inorganic Components in C. bursa-pastoris. Yakugaku Kenkyu, 32: 617.
GLUTAMIC-ACID 8 Plant not available not available not available Duke, 1992 *
HISTAMINE 18 Plant not available not available not available Duke, 1992 *
HYSSOPIN 0 Plant not available not available not available Duke, 1992 *
INOSITOL 8 Plant not available 300.0 not available Duke, 1992 *
IRON 6 Plant 48.0 407.0 -0.26 Duke, 1992 *
KILOCALORIES 0 Plant 330.0 2800.0 -0.46 Duke, 1992 *
LEUCINE 2 Plant not available not available not available Duke, 1992 *
LUTEOLIN-7-GALACTOSIDE 0 Plant not available not available not available Duke, 1992 *
LUTEOLIN-7-RUTINOSIDE 0 Plant not available not available not available Duke, 1992 *
MALIC-ACID 15 Plant not available not available not available Duke, 1992 *
MANNITOL 18 Plant not available not available not available Duke, 1992 *
MANNOSE 3 Plant not available not available not available Duke, 1992 *
METHIONINE 15 Plant not available not available not available Duke, 1992 *
N-NONACOSANE 1 Plant not available not available not available Duke, 1992 *
NIACIN 39 Plant 4.0 34.0 -0.60 Duke, 1992 *
OXALIC-ACID 9 Plant not available not available not available Duke, 1992 *
P-AMINOBENZOSULFONIC-ACID 0 Plant 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
Roborant 1 Merck 11th Edition
Secretogogue 2 Martindale's 29th
Sedative 1 Pizzorno, J.E. and Murray, M.T. 1985. A Textbook of Natural Medicine. John Bastyr College Publications, Seattle, Washington (Looseleaf).
Sequestrant 1 Aloe Research Council - Duke writeup of non-peer reviewd book by Coats and draft by Henry
Serotoninergic 1 Pizzorno, J.E. and Murray, M.T. 1985. A Textbook of Natural Medicine. John Bastyr College Publications, Seattle, Washington (Looseleaf).
Sialogogue 2 Duke, 1992 *
Spasmogenic 2 Duke, 1992 *
Spermicide 1 Malini, T. and Vanithakumari, G. 1989. Rat Toxicity Studies With B-Sitosterol. Journal of Ethnopharmacology, 28: 221-234, 1990.
Spermigenic 1 Werbach, M. 1993. Healing with Food. Harper Collins, New York, 443 pp.
Sunscreen 1 Duke, 1992 *
Sweetener 3 Jeffery B. Harborne and H. Baxter, eds. 1983. Phytochemical Dictionary. A Handbook of Bioactive Compounds from Plants. Taylor & Frost, London. 791 pp.
Sympathomimetic 1 Duke, 1992 *
Tachycardic 1 Martindale's 29th
Thymoprotective 1 Pizzorno, J.E. and Murray, M.T. 1985. A Textbook of Natural Medicine. John Bastyr College Publications, Seattle, Washington (Looseleaf).
TNF-alpha-Inhibitor 1 Duke, 1992 *
Topoisomerase-II-Inhibitor 1 Bernard, F. X., Sable, S., Cameron, B., Provost, J., Desnottes, J. F., Crouzet, J., Blanche, F. 1997. Glycosylated Flavones as Selective Inhibitors of Topoisomerase IV. Antimicrobial Agents & Chemotherapy, 41: 992-998.
Tranquilizer 1 Duke, 1992 *
Tyrosinase-Inhibitor 1 Duke, 1992 *
Ubiquiot 4 Jeffery B. Harborne and H. Baxter, eds. 1983. Phytochemical Dictionary. A Handbook of Bioactive Compounds from Plants. Taylor & Frost, London. 791 pp.
Ulcerogenic 2 Duke, 1992 *