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 Helianthus annuus (Asteraceae)

Common Names
Sunflower; Girasol
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
WATER 0 Seed 53600.0 72900.0 -0.59 Duke, 1992 *
WAX 0 Pericarp 4200.0 4600.0 -1.00 Rizk, A.F.M. and Al-Nowaihi, A.S., The Phytochemistry of the Horticultural Plants of Qatar, Scientific and Applied Research Centre, University of Qatar.
ZINC 77 Seed 46.0 54.0 0.25 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
Mosquitofuge 2 Duke, 1992 *
Motor-Depressant 4 Buchbauer et al, e.g.Buchbauer et al,1993.Therapeutic properties of essential oils and fragrances. Chap.12 in Teranishi,R, Buttery,R.G and Sugisawa,H. Eds. Bioactive Volatile Compounds from Plants. ACS Symposium Series 525. Amer. Chem. Soc., Washington DC
Mucogenic 2 Pizzorno, J.E. and Murray, M.T. 1985. A Textbook of Natural Medicine. John Bastyr College Publications, Seattle, Washington (Looseleaf).
Musculotropic 1 Wichtl, M. 1984. Teedrogen. Ein Handbuch fur Apotheker und Arzte. Wissenschaftliche Verlagsgesellscharft. mbH Stuttgart. 393 pp.
Mutagenic 4 Economic & Medicinal Plant Research, 6: 189.
Mycobactericide 2 Duke, 1992 *
Myorelaxant 8 Martindale's 29th
Myostimulant 1 Martindale's 29th
NADH-Oxidase-Inhibitor 1 Duke, 1992 *
Natriuretic 1 Duke, 1992 *
Nematicide 12 Shoyakugaku Zasshi, 44: 183.
Nematistat 1 Nigg, H.N. and Seigler, D.S., eds. 1992. Phytochemical Resources for Medicine and Agriculture. Plenum Press, New York. 445 pp.
Neoplastic 1 CRC Handbook of Medicinal Herbs and/or CRC Handbook of Proximate Analyses
NEP-Inhibitor 1 Duke, 1992 *
Neurodepressant 1 Yamamoto, A., Umemori, S., and Muranishi, S. 1993. Absorption Enhancement of Intrapulmonary Administered Insulin by Various Absorption Enhancers and Protease Inhibitors in Rats. J. Pharm. Pharmacol. 46: 14-18, 1994.
Neuroexcitant 1 Martindale's 28th
Neuroinhibitor 1 Werbach, M. 1993. Healing with Food. Harper Collins, New York, 443 pp.
Neuropathogenic 1 Yamamoto, A., Umemori, S., and Muranishi, S. 1993. Absorption Enhancement of Intrapulmonary Administered Insulin by Various Absorption Enhancers and Protease Inhibitors in Rats. J. Pharm. Pharmacol. 46: 14-18, 1994.
Neuroprotective 2 Duke, 1992 *
Neurotoxic 2 R.J. Hixtable (Huxtable, R.J. (as T. Max). 1992. This and That:The Essential Pharmacology of Herbs and Spices. Tips 13:15-20 Huxtable, R.J. 1992b. The Myth of Benficent Nature. The Risk of Herbal Preparations. Anns. Intern. Med. 117(2):165-6; Huxtable, R.