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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

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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
THYMOL 71 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.
THYMOL-METHYL-ETHER 0 Plant 8.0 115.0 -0.46 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.
TIN 4 Plant 1.3 11.0 -0.67 *
TRANS-CIS-NEPETONIC-ACID-METHYL-ESTER 0 Plant *
TRANS-OCIMENE 0 Plant 4.0 20.0 -0.90 *
TRANS-TRANS-NEPETONIC-ACID-METHYL-ESTER 0 Plant *
URSOLIC-ACID 89 Plant *
URSOLIC-ACID 89 Shoot 10300.0 1.82 *
WATER 0 Plant 880000.0 0.47 *
ZINC 77 Plant *
View the list of ubiquitous chemicals
Download these results as:
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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
Hallucinogenic 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.
Hemolytic 1 Bisset, N.G., ed. 1994. Herbal Drugs and Phytopharmaceuticals. CRC Press. Boca Raton, FL. 566 pp.
Hepatoprotective 5 *
Hepatotoxic 2 Lewis, E.J. and Friedrich, E.C. 1989. The Essential Oil of Poliomintha incana. Planta Medica 56(2): 224-226, 1990.
Herbicide 8 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.
Histaminic 1 *
Hypercholesterolemic 3 Spiller, G. A. 1996 (Spiller, G. A. Ed. 1996. CRC Handbook of Lipids in Human Nutrition. CRC Press. Boca Raton, FL. 233 pp.)
Hypertensive 1 Davies, S., and Stewart, A. 1990. Nutritional Medicine. Avon Books, New York. 509pp.
Hypocholesterolemic 9 Davies, S., and Stewart, A. 1990. Nutritional Medicine. Avon Books, New York. 509pp.
Hypoglycemic 6 Ivorra, M.D., Paya, M., and Villar, A. 1989. A Review of Natural Products and Plants as Potential Antidiabetic Drugs. Journal of Ethnopharmacology, 27: 243-275, 1989.
Hypolipidemic 2 *
Hypotensive 7 *
Hypothermic 1 *
Immunomodulator 9 Economic & Medicinal Plant Research, 6: 189.
Immunostimulant 6 Pizzorno, J.E. and Murray, M.T. 1985. A Textbook of Natural Medicine. John Bastyr College Publications, Seattle, Washington (Looseleaf).
Immunosuppressant 2 *
Insect-Repellent 1 *
Insecticide 4 Grundy, D. L. and Still, C. C., Inhibition of acetylcholinesterases by pulegone-1,2-epoxide, Oest. Biochem. & Physiol., 23, 1985, 383-8.
Insectifuge 13 Bowers, W.S., Ortego, F., You, X., and Evans, P.H. Insect Repellents From The Chinese Prickly Ash Zanthoxylum bungeanum. Journal of Natural Products, 56(6): 935-938, 1993.
Insectiphile 1 Merck 11th Edition