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

Nepeta cataria (Lamiaceae)

Common Names
Catnip
How this plant is used
Generally Recognized as Safe
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
FAT 0 Seed 212000.0 -0.28 *
FIBER(CRUDE) 0 Plant 10000.0 -1.74 *
GERANIOL 35 Essential Oil 255000.0 2.07 *
GERANIOL 35 Leaf *
GERANIOL 35 Plant 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.
HUMULENE-OXIDE-I 0 Plant 22.0 210.0 Bourrel, C., Perineau, F., Michel, G., Bessiere, J.M. 1993. Catnip (Nepeta cataria L.) Essential Oil: Analysis of Chemical Constituents, Bacteriostatic and Fungistatic Properties. J. Ess. Oil Res., 5: 159-167.
HUMULENENEPETALIC-ANHYDRIDE 0 Plant *
IRIDOIDS 1 Plant Leung, A. Y. and Foster, S. 1995. Encyclopedia of Common Natural Ingredients 2nd Ed. John Wiley & Sons, New York. 649 pp.
IRON 6 Plant 17.0 138.0 -0.58 *
ISODIHYDRONEPETALACTONE 0 Plant List, P.H. and Horhammer, L., Hager's Handbuch der Pharmazeutischen Praxis, Vols. 2-6, Springer-Verlag, Berlin, 1969-1979.
ISOMARGARIC ACID 0 Seed Oil *
ISOTRIDECANOIC ACID 0 Seed Oil *
LAURIC-ACID 7 Seed Oil *
LIMONENE 60 Leaf *
LIMONENE 60 Plant *
LINOLEIC-ACID 27 Seed Oil 180000.0 -0.83 *
LINOLENIC-ACID 0 Seed Oil 570000.0 1.00 *
MAGNESIUM 65 Plant 248.0 2070.0 -0.62 *
MANGANESE 14 Plant 5.0 37.4 -0.43 *
METHYL-NEPETALACTONE 0 Plant List, P.H. and Horhammer, L., Hager's Handbuch der Pharmazeutischen Praxis, Vols. 2-6, Springer-Verlag, Berlin, 1969-1979.
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
Choleretic 2 *
Cholesterolytic 1 *
Circulotonic 1 *
CNS-Depressant 2 Facciola, S. 1998. Cornucopia - A Source Book of Edible Plants. Kampong Publications, Vista CA. 713 pp.
CNS-Stimulant 2 *
Cold-preventive 1 Davies, S., and Stewart, A. 1990. Nutritional Medicine. Avon Books, New York. 509pp.
Collagenic 2 *
Colorant 1 Jeffery B. Harborne and H. Baxter, eds. 1983. Phytochemical Dictionary. A Handbook of Bioactive Compounds from Plants. Taylor & Frost, London. 791 pp.
Comedolytic 1 *
Convulsant 1 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.
Copper-Antagonist 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
Cosmetic 3 Jeffery B. Harborne and H. Baxter, eds. 1983. Phytochemical Dictionary. A Handbook of Bioactive Compounds from Plants. Taylor & Frost, London. 791 pp.
Counterirritant 2 Martindale's 28th
COX-1-Inhibitor 3 *
COX-2-Inhibitor 4 *
Culicide 1 *
Cyclooxygenase-Inhibitor 4 *
Cytotoxic 3 *
Decongestant 1 Nigg, H.N. and Seigler, D.S., eds. 1992. Phytochemical Resources for Medicine and Agriculture. Plenum Press, New York. 445 pp.
Deiodinase-Inhibitor 1 Jim Duke's personal files.