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.

Dr. Duke's Phytochemical and Ethnobotanical Databases
U.S. Department of Agriculture
  1. Home
  2. Medicago sativa

Medicago sativa (Fabaceae)

Common Names
Alfalfa; Lucerne
How this plant is used
Generally Recognized as Safe
Subspecies
sativa
View the list of ubiquitous chemicals
Download these results as:
CSV
EXCEL
PDF
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
(-)-5'-METHOXYSATIVAN 0 Plant Leung, A. Y. and Foster, S. 1995. Encyclopedia of Common Natural Ingredients 2nd Ed. John Wiley & Sons, New York. 649 pp.
(S)-N-(3-HYDROXYPROPYL)-AZETIDINE-CARBOXYLIC-ACID 0 Sprout Seedling Leung, A. Y. and Foster, S. 1995. Encyclopedia of Common Natural Ingredients 2nd Ed. John Wiley & Sons, New York. 649 pp.
10-METHOXY-MEDICARPIN 0 Plant *
11,12-DIMETHOXY-7-HYDROXYCOUMESTIN 0 Plant *
2-(4-HYDROXY-2-METHOXY-PHENYL)-6-METHOXY-BENZOFURAN-3-CARBOXYLIC-ACID 0 Root *
2-CARBOXYARABINITOL 0 Leaf 19.0 -0.83 *
2-METHYL-PROPANOL 0 Essential Oil *
3',4',5-TRIHYDROXY-7-METHOXY-FLAVONE 0 Shoot *
3',4',7-TRIHYDROXYFLAVONE 0 Shoot *
3'-METHOXYCOUMESTROL 0 Plant *
3'-METHOXYCOUMESTROL 0 Shoot *
3-BETA-GALACTOSIDASE 0 Tissue Culture *
3-METHYL-BUTANOL 0 Essential Oil *
4',7-DIHYDROXYFLAVONE 0 Leaf *
4',7-DIHYDROXYFLAVONE 0 Plant *
4',7-DIHYDROXYFLAVONE 0 Root *
4',7-DIHYDROXYFLAVONE 0 Shoot *
4',7-DIHYDROXYFLAVONE 0 Tissue Culture *
4'-METHOXYCOUMESTROL 0 Shoot *
4'-O-METHYLCOUMESTROL 2 Plant *
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
11B-HSD-Inhibitor 3 *
17-beta-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase-Inhibitor 1 *
5-Alpha-Reductase-Inhibitor 5 *
5-HETE-Inhibitor 1 *
5-Lipoxygenase-Inhibitor 4 *
Abortifacient 3 *
Absorbent 1 Martindale's 29th
Acaricide 2 *
ACE-Inhibitor 3 *
Acetylcholinergic 1 *
AChE-Inhibitor 1 Grundy, D. L. and Still, C. C., Inhibition of acetylcholinesterases by pulegone-1,2-epoxide, Oest. Biochem. & Physiol., 23, 1985, 383-8.
Acidulant 2 Aloe Research Council - Duke writeup of non-peer reviewd book by Coats and draft by Henry
Additive 1 Aloe Research Council - Duke writeup of non-peer reviewd book by Coats and draft by Henry
Adjuvant 1 Merck 11th Edition
Aggregant 1 Pizzorno, J.E. and Murray, M.T. 1985. A Textbook of Natural Medicine. John Bastyr College Publications, Seattle, Washington (Looseleaf).
Aldehyde-Oxidase-Inhibitor 1 *
Aldose-Reductase-Inhibitor 12 Shimizu, M., Ito, T., Terashima, S., Hayashi, T., Arisawa, M., Morita, N., Kurokawa, S., Ito, K., and Hashimoto, Y. 1984. Inhibition of Lens Aldose Reductase by Flavonoids. Phytochemistry, 23: 1885-1888.
Allelochemic 6 Lydon, J. & Duke, S., The potential of pesticides from plants, pp. 1-41 in Craker, L. & Simon, J., eds, Herbs, Spices & Medicinal Plants: Recent Advances in Botany, Horticulture, & Pharmacology, v. 4, Oryx Press, Phoenix, 1989, 267pp.
Allelopathic 3 Holappa, L.D., and Blum*, U. 1991. Effects of Exogenously Applied Ferulic Acid, a Potential Allelopathic Compound, on Leaf Growth, Water Utilization, and Endogenous Abscisic Acid Levels of Tomato, Cucumber, and Bean. J. of Chemical Ecology, 17(5): 865.
Allergenic 13 *