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
PALMITIC-ACID 13 Seed not available not available not available Duke, 1992 *
PALMITIC-ACID 13 Seed Oil not available not available not available Duke, 1992 *
PEROXIDASE-ISOENZYMES 0 Fruit not available not available not available Duke, 1992 *
PEROXIDASE-ISOENZYMES 0 Leaf not available not available not available Duke, 1992 *
PEROXIDASE-ISOENZYMES 0 Root not available not available not available Duke, 1992 *
PEROXIDASE-ISOENZYMES 0 Stem not available not available not available Duke, 1992 *
PHOSPHORUS 4 Leaf 1553.0 7060.0 0.38 Duke, 1992 *
PHOSPHORUS 4 Plant not available 7060.0 1.67 Pedersen, M. 1987. Nutritional Herbology. Pederson Publishing. Bountiful, Utah. 377 pp.
POTASSIUM 14 Leaf 1833.0 8330.0 -0.97 Duke, 1992 *
POTASSIUM 14 Plant not available 8330.0 -0.94 Pedersen, M. 1987. Nutritional Herbology. Pederson Publishing. Bountiful, Utah. 377 pp.
PROLINE 0 Tissue Culture not available not available not available Duke, 1992 *
PROTEIN 0 Leaf 31460.0 143000.0 -0.69 Duke, 1992 *
PROTEIN 0 Plant not available 143000.0 -0.25 Pedersen, M. 1987. Nutritional Herbology. Pederson Publishing. Bountiful, Utah. 377 pp.
PROTEIN 0 Seed 186000.0 280000.0 0.41 Duke, 1992 *
QUERCETIN 176 Fruit not available not available not available Duke, 1992 *
QUERCETIN 176 Seed not available not available not available List, P.H. and Horhammer, L., Hager's Handbuch der Pharmazeutischen Praxis, Vols. 2-6, Springer-Verlag, Berlin, 1969-1979.
RIBOFLAVIN 15 Leaf 0.4 2.0 -0.17 Duke, 1992 *
SELENIUM 60 Leaf 2.0 7.1 0.16 Duke, 1992 *
SELENIUM 60 Plant not available 7.1 -0.11 Pedersen, M. 1987. Nutritional Herbology. Pederson Publishing. Bountiful, Utah. 377 pp.
SILANDRIN 1 Fruit 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
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
Copper-Chelator 2 Duke, 1992 *
Cosmetic 3 Jeffery B. Harborne and H. Baxter, eds. 1983. Phytochemical Dictionary. A Handbook of Bioactive Compounds from Plants. Taylor & Frost, London. 791 pp.
COX-1-Inhibitor 2 Duke, 1992 *
COX-2-Inhibitor 4 Duke, 1992 *
Cyclooxygenase-Inhibitor 3 Duke, 1992 *
Cytochrome-P450-1A1-Inhibitor 1 Duke, 1992 *
Cytochrome-P450-1A2-Inhibitor 1 Duke, 1992 *
Cytochrome-P450-Inhibitor 1 Pizzorno, J. 1998. Total Wellness. Prima Health, a division of Prima.
Cytoprotective 1 Duke, 1992 *
Cytotoxic 5 Planta Medica, 57: A113, 1991.
Decarboxylase-Inhibitor 1 Jeffery B. Harborne and H. Baxter, eds. 1983. Phytochemical Dictionary. A Handbook of Bioactive Compounds from Plants. Taylor & Frost, London. 791 pp.
Deiodinase-Inhibitor 3 Jim Duke's personal files.
Demulcent 1 Duke, 1992 *
Deodorant 1 Martindale's 29th
Depressant 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.
Dermatitigenic 1 Duke, 1992 *
Detoxicant 2 Duke, 1992 *
Detoxicant (Alcohol) 1 Duke, 1992 *
Diaphoretic? 2 Lawrence Review of Natural Products, Dec-90.