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 Silybum marianum (Asteraceae)

Common Names
Milk Thistle; Lady's Thistle
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
(+)-TAXIFOLIN 0 Fruit not available not available not available Duke, 1992 *
(-)-SILANDRIN 0 Fruit not available not available not available Duke, 1992 *
1-2-EPOXY-TRIDEC-3-ENE-5-7-9-11-TETRAYNE 0 Root not available 0.2 not available Duke, 1992 *
2,3-DEHYDROSILYCHRISTIN 0 Plant not available not available not available J.S. Glasby Dict.Pls Containing 2ndary Metabolite. 1991.
2,3-DEHYDROSILYCHRISTIN 0 Seed not available not available not available Duke, 1992 *
2,3-DEHYDROSILYMARIN 0 Plant not available not available not available J.S. Glasby Dict.Pls Containing 2ndary Metabolite. 1991.
2,3-DEHYDROSILYMARIN 0 Seed not available not available not available Duke, 1992 *
3-DEOXYSILYCHRISTIN 1 Fruit not available not available not available Duke, 1992 *
3-DEOXYSILYCHRISTIN 1 Plant not available not available not available Duke, 1992 *
3-DEOXYSILYCHRISTIN 1 Seed not available not available not available Duke, 1992 *
3-DEOXYSILYDIANIN 0 Seed not available not available not available Leung, A. Y. and Foster, S. 1995. Encyclopedia of Common Natural Ingredients 2nd Ed. John Wiley & Sons, New York. 649 pp.
4'-5-7-TRIHYDROXY-3'-5'-DIMETHOXY-FLAVANONE 0 Fruit not available not available not available Duke, 1992 *
4'-5-7-TRIHYDROXY-3'-5'-DIMETHOXY-FLAVANONE 0 Seed not available not available not available Duke, 1992 *
5,7-DIHYDROXYCHROMONE 4 Plant not available not available not available Jeffery B. Harborne and H. Baxter, eds. 1983. Phytochemical Dictionary. A Handbook of Bioactive Compounds from Plants. Taylor & Frost, London. 791 pp.
ALUMINUM 5 Leaf 59.0 267.0 -0.49 Duke, 1992 *
ALUMINUM 5 Plant not available 267.0 -0.23 Pedersen, M. 1987. Nutritional Herbology. Pederson Publishing. Bountiful, Utah. 377 pp.
APIGENIN 101 Fruit not available not available not available Duke, 1992 *
APIGENIN 101 Seed not available not available not available Duke, 1992 *
APIGENIN-7-O-BETA-D-(2''-O-ALPHA-L-RHAMNOSYL)-GALACTURONIDE 0 Flower not available not available not available Duke, 1992 *
APIGENIN-7-O-BETA-D-GLUCURONIDE-6''-ETHYL-ESTER 0 Flower not available not available not available Duke, 1992 *
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
11B-HSD-Inhibitor 4 Duke, 1992 *
5-Alpha-Reductase-Inhibitor 4 Duke, 1992 *
5-Lipoxygenase-Inhibitor 2 Duke, 1992 *
Abortifacient 1 Duke, 1992 *
ACE-Inhibitor 1 Duke, 1992 *
Acetylcholinergic 1 Duke, 1992 *
Acidulant 2 Aloe Research Council - Duke writeup of non-peer reviewd book by Coats and draft by Henry
Adrenergic 1 Merck 11th Edition
Aldehyde-Oxidase-Inhibitor 1 Duke, 1992 *
Aldose-Reductase-Inhibitor 9 Shimizu, M., Ito, T., Terashima, S., Hayashi, T., Arisawa, M., Morita, N., Kurokawa, S., Ito, K., and Hashimoto, Y. 1984. Inhibition of Lens Aldose Reductase by Flavonoids. Phytochemistry, 23: 1885-1888.
Allelochemic 1 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.
Allergenic 5 Duke, 1992 *
Alpha-Reductase-Inhibitor 1 Duke, 1992 *
Amphiglycemic? 1 Davies, S., and Stewart, A. 1990. Nutritional Medicine. Avon Books, New York. 509pp.
Analeptic 1 Duke, 1992 *
Analgesic 4 Duke, 1992 *
Androgenic 1 Duke, 1992 *
Androgenic? 1 Pizzorno, J.E. and Murray, M.T. 1985. A Textbook of Natural Medicine. John Bastyr College Publications, Seattle, Washington (Looseleaf).
Anemiagenic 1 Duke, 1992 *
Anesthetic 1 Martindale's 28th