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 Medicago sativa (Fabaceae)

Common Names
Alfalfa; Lucerne
How this plant is used
Generally Recognized as Safe
Subspecies
sativa
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
4-0-METHYLCOUMESTROL 0 Plant not available not available not available Duke, 1992 *
4-AMINO-BUTYRIC-ACID 0 Root not available not available not available Williamson, E. M. and Evans, F. J., Potter's New Cyclopaedia of Botanical Drugs and Preparations, Revised Ed., Saffron Walden, the C. W. Daniel Co., Ltd., Essex UK, 362 pp, 1988, reprint 1989.
7,5'-DIHYDROXY-2',3',4'-TRIMETHOXYISOFLAVAN 0 Plant not available not available not available Duke, 1992 *
7-HYDROXY-2',3',4-TRIMETHOXYISOFLAVAN 0 Plant not available not available not available Duke, 1992 *
8-METHOXYCOUMESTROL 0 Leaf not available not available not available Duke, 1992 *
9-O-METHYLCOUMESTROL 0 Wood not available not available not available Duke, 1992 *
ACETONE 3 Essential Oil not available not available not available Duke, 1992 *
ADENINE 11 Plant not available not available not available Duke, 1992 *
ADENOSINE 28 Plant not available not available not available Duke, 1992 *
AESCULETIN 32 Fruit not available 140.0 not available Duke, 1992 *
AESCULETIN 32 Plant not available not available not available Duke, 1992 *
ALFALFONE 0 Plant not available not available not available Duke, 1992 *
ALFALONE 0 Tissue Culture not available not available not available Duke, 1992 *
ALPHA-CRYPTOXANTHIN 2 Flower not available not available not available Duke, 1992 *
ALPHA-SPINASTEROL 2 Fruit not available 37.0 not available Duke, 1992 *
ALPHA-SPINASTEROL 2 Plant not available not available not available Duke, 1992 *
ALPHA-TOCOPHEROL 32 Leaf not available not available not available Duke, 1992 *
ALPHA-TOCOPHEROL 32 Plant 26.0 257.0 1.00 Duke, 1992 *
ALUMINUM 5 Plant 25.0 135.0 -0.49 Duke, 1992 *
AMYLASE 1 Plant not available not available not available ANON. 1948-1976. The Wealth of India raw materials. Publications and Information Directorate, CSIR, New Delhi. 11 volumes.
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
Iodothyronine-Deiodinase-Inhibitor 1 Jeffery B. Harborne and H. Baxter, eds. 1983. Phytochemical Dictionary. A Handbook of Bioactive Compounds from Plants. Taylor & Frost, London. 791 pp.
Irritant 7 Duke, 1992 *
JNK-Inhibitor 1 Duke, 1992 *
Juvabional 2 Jacobson, M., Glossary of Plant-Derived Insect Deterrents, CRC Press, Inc., Boca Raton, FL, 213 p, 1990.
Keratolytic 1 Jeffery B. Harborne and H. Baxter, eds. 1983. Phytochemical Dictionary. A Handbook of Bioactive Compounds from Plants. Taylor & Frost, London. 791 pp.
Lactagogue 1 Lawrence Review of Natural Products, Mar-91.
Larvicide 1 Duke, 1992 *
Larvistat 2 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.
Laxative 6 Duke, 1992 *
Laxative? 2 Lawrence Review of Natural Products, Sep-91.
Leptingenic 1 Challem, J., Berkson, Burt, and Smith, Melissa Dianne. 2000.
Syndrome X - The complete nutritional program to prevent and reservse insulin resistance. John Wiley & Sons, New York. 272 pp. $24.95
Leukotriene-Inhibitor 1 Duke, 1992 *
Lipase-Inhibitor 2 Duke, 1992 *
Lipolytic 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.
Lipotropic 4 Jeffery B. Harborne and H. Baxter, eds. 1983. Phytochemical Dictionary. A Handbook of Bioactive Compounds from Plants. Taylor & Frost, London. 791 pp.
Lipoxygenase-Inhibitor 10 Oszmianski, J. and Lee, C.Y. 1990. Inhibitory Effect of Phenolics on Carotene Bleaching in Vegetables. J. Agric. Food Chem. 38: 688-690.
Lithogenic 2 Duke, 1992 *
Litholytic 2 Martindale's 29th
Lubricant 3 Jeffery B. Harborne and H. Baxter, eds. 1983. Phytochemical Dictionary. A Handbook of Bioactive Compounds from Plants. Taylor & Frost, London. 791 pp.
Lupus-Generating 1 Merck 11th Edition