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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
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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
DAIDZEIN 32 Plant *
DAIDZEIN 32 Shoot *
DAIDZEN 4 Plant Pedersen, M. 1987. Nutritional Herbology. Pederson Publishing. Bountiful, Utah. 377 pp.
DAPHNORETIN 2 Plant *
DEHYDRO-SOYASAPONIN-I 0 Shoot 20.0 *
DIOSGENIN 7 Seed 1000.0 -0.71 *
EREPSIN 0 Plant ANON. 1948-1976. The Wealth of India raw materials. Publications and Information Directorate, CSIR, New Delhi. 11 volumes.
ESCULETIN 30 Fruit 140.0 *
ESCULETIN 30 Plant Jim Duke's personal files.
FAT 0 Plant 8084.0 43000.0 -0.13 *
FAT 0 Seed 101000.0 123000.0 -0.75 CRC Handbook of Medicinal Herbs and/or CRC Handbook of Proximate Analyses
FERREDOXINS 0 Plant Leung, A. Y. and Foster, S. 1995. Encyclopedia of Common Natural Ingredients 2nd Ed. John Wiley & Sons, New York. 649 pp.
FERULIC-ACID 61 Leaf *
FERULIC-ACID 61 Tissue Culture *
FIBER 15 Plant 31000.0 423000.0 1.48 *
FIBER 15 Seed 81000.0 91732.0 -0.34 ANON. 1948-1976. The Wealth of India raw materials. Publications and Information Directorate, CSIR, New Delhi. 11 volumes.
FIBER(CRUDE) 0 Plant 210000.0 1.96 *
FIBER(DIETARY) 0 Plant 423000.0 0.64 *
FLAVOXANTHIN 0 Leaf *
FOLACIN 15 Plant *
View the list of ubiquitous chemicals
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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
Lyase-Inhibitor 1 *
MAO-A-Inhibitor 1 *
MAO-Inhibitor 5 *
MAPK-Inhibitor 1 *
Mast-Cell-Stabilizer 1 *
Mastogenic 1 *
MDR-Inhibitor 1 Castro, A. F., Altenberg, G. A. 1997. Inhibition of Drug Transport by Genistein in Multidrug-Resistant Cell Expressing P-Glycoprotein. Biochem Pharmacol, 53(1): 89-93.
Memorigenic 2 *
Memory-Enhancer 1 Science News, 138: 189, 1990.
Metal-Chelator 2 McEvily, A.J., Iyengar, R., and Gross, A.T. Inhibition of Polyphenol Oxidase by Phenolic Compounds. Phenolic Compounds in Food and Their Effects on Health, Ch.25.
Metal-Chelator (Copper) 1 Seidel, V., Verholle, M., Malard, Y., Tillequin, F., Fruchart, J-C., Duriez, P., Bailleul, F., Teissier, E. 2000. Phenylpropanoids from Ballota nigra L. Inhibit in vitro LDL Peroxidation. Phytotherapy Research, 14(2): 93-98.
Metalloproteinase-Inhibitor 1 *
Metastatic 1 Science News, 146: 421.
Mitogenic 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.
MMP-9-Inhibitor 1 *
Molluscicide 3 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.
Monoamine-Precursor 2 Pizzorno, J.E. and Murray, M.T. 1985. A Textbook of Natural Medicine. John Bastyr College Publications, Seattle, Washington (Looseleaf).
Mosquitocide 1 *
Mucogenic 3 Pizzorno, J.E. and Murray, M.T. 1985. A Textbook of Natural Medicine. John Bastyr College Publications, Seattle, Washington (Looseleaf).
Mucolytic 1 Martindale's 28th