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
Deodorant 2 Merck 11th Edition
Depressant 1 Cooper-Driver, G. A., Chemical substances in plants toxic to animals, pp. 213-47 in Rechcigl, M., Jr., ed. CRC Handbook of Naturally Occurring Food Toxicants, CRC Press, Boca Raton, 1983, 339 pp.
Dermatitigenic 5 Jeffery B. Harborne and H. Baxter, eds. 1983. Phytochemical Dictionary. A Handbook of Bioactive Compounds from Plants. Taylor & Frost, London. 791 pp.
Detoxicant 3 *
Detoxicant (Alcohol) 1 *
Diagnostic 1 Martindale's 28th
Diaphoretic? 3 Lawrence Review of Natural Products, Dec-90.
Differentiator 2 *
Disinfectant 1 Martindale's 29th
Diuretic 15 *
DNA-Active 1 Jeffery B. Harborne and H. Baxter, eds. 1983. Phytochemical Dictionary. A Handbook of Bioactive Compounds from Plants. Taylor & Frost, London. 791 pp.
DNA-Protective 2 *
DOPA-Decarboxylase-Inhibitor 1 *
Dopaminergic 1 Pizzorno, J.E. and Murray, M.T. 1985. A Textbook of Natural Medicine. John Bastyr College Publications, Seattle, Washington (Looseleaf).
Dye 3 Merck 11th Edition
Embryotoxic 1 *
Emetic 2 Lawrence Review of Natural Products, Sep-97.
Emmenagogue 3 Wealth of India.
Emollient 1 Martindale's 29th
Encephalopathic 1 Martindale's 29th