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 Nepeta cataria (Lamiaceae)

Common Names
Catnip
How this plant is used
Generally Recognized as Safe
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
BETA-NEPETALACTONE 0 Plant 125.0 2730.0 not available Duke, 1992 *
BETA-SITOSTEROL 47 Plant not available not available not available Duke, 1992 *
BETA-SITOSTEROL 47 Shoot not available 900.0 1.36 Duke, 1992 *
CALCIUM 28 Plant 739.0 6160.0 -0.79 Duke, 1992 *
CAMPHOR 41 Plant 16.0 80.0 -0.61 List, P.H. and Horhammer, L., Hager's Handbuch der Pharmazeutischen Praxis, Vols. 2-6, Springer-Verlag, Berlin, 1969-1979.
CARVACROL 37 Plant 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.
CARYOPHYLLENE 31 Plant 40.0 3200.0 3.66 Duke, 1992 *
CARYOPHYLLENE-OXIDE 8 Plant 285.0 2365.0 4.03 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.
CHROMIUM 24 Plant 0.3 2.7 -0.61 Duke, 1992 *
CIS-OCIMENE 3 Plant 10.0 50.0 -0.34 Duke, 1992 *
CITRAL 53 Plant not available not available not available Duke, 1992 *
CITRONELLAL 20 Plant 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.
CITRONELLOL 15 Essential Oil not available 126000.0 0.52 Duke, 1992 *
COBALT 2 Plant 1.4 11.8 -0.09 Duke, 1992 *
DIHYDRONEPETALACTONE 0 Plant 6.0 30.0 not available List, P.H. and Horhammer, L., Hager's Handbuch der Pharmazeutischen Praxis, Vols. 2-6, Springer-Verlag, Berlin, 1969-1979.
DIHYDRONEPETALACTONE-N3 0 Plant 34.0 260.0 not available 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.
DIMETHYL-3,7-OXA-1-BICYCLO(3,3,0)OCT-2-ENE 0 Plant 15.0 90.0 not available 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.
EO 0 Plant 2000.0 13000.0 0.25 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.
EPINEPETALACTONE 0 Essential Oil 1000.0 400000.0 not available Duke, 1992 *
EPINEPETALACTONE 0 Plant 10.0 4000.0 not available Leung, A. Y. and Foster, S. 1995. Encyclopedia of Common Natural Ingredients 2nd Ed. John Wiley & Sons, New York. 649 pp.
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
Motor-Depressant 1 Buchbauer et al, e.g.Buchbauer et al,1993.Therapeutic properties of essential oils and fragrances. Chap.12 in Teranishi,R, Buttery,R.G and Sugisawa,H. Eds. Bioactive Volatile Compounds from Plants. ACS Symposium Series 525. Amer. Chem. Soc., Washington DC
Mucogenic 2 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
Mutagenic? 1 Duke, 1992 *
Mycobactericide 1 Duke, 1992 *
Myorelaxant 5 Werbach, M. 1993. Healing with Food. Harper Collins, New York, 443 pp.
Nematicide 11 Nigg, H.N. and Seigler, D.S., eds. 1992. Phytochemical Resources for Medicine and Agriculture. Plenum Press, New York. 445 pp.
Nephrotoxic 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.
Neuroprotective 1 Duke, 1992 *
Neurotoxic 1 Duke, 1992 *
Neurotransmitter 1 Duke, 1992 *
NF-kB-Inhibitor 3 Duke, 1992 *
NO-Genic 1 Duke, 1992 *
NO-Inhibitor 1 Duke, 1992 *
Occuloirritant 1 Duke, 1992 *
Ornithine-Decarboxylase-Inhibitor 4 Duke, 1992 *
Osteogenic 1 Davies, S., and Stewart, A. 1990. Nutritional Medicine. Avon Books, New York. 509pp.
Ozone-Scavenger 1 Duke, 1992 *
P450-2B1-Inhibitor 4 Duke, 1992 *
P450-Inducer 1 Duke, 1992 *