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
Mutagenic 3 Duke, 1992 *
Myorelaxant 3 Jeffery B. Harborne and H. Baxter, eds. 1983. Phytochemical Dictionary. A Handbook of Bioactive Compounds from Plants. Taylor & Frost, London. 791 pp.
Myostimulant 1 Martindale's 29th
NADH-Oxidase-Inhibitor 2 Duke, 1992 *
Natriuretic 1 Duke, 1992 *
Nematicide 3 Nigg, H.N. and Seigler, D.S., eds. 1992. Phytochemical Resources for Medicine and Agriculture. Plenum Press, New York. 445 pp.
Neoplastic 1 CRC Handbook of Medicinal Herbs and/or CRC Handbook of Proximate Analyses
NEP-Inhibitor 2 Duke, 1992 *
Neuroinhibitor 2 Werbach, M. 1993. Healing with Food. Harper Collins, New York, 443 pp.
Neuroprotective 3 Duke, 1992 *
Neurotoxic 3 Jeffery B. Harborne and H. Baxter, eds. 1983. Phytochemical Dictionary. A Handbook of Bioactive Compounds from Plants. Taylor & Frost, London. 791 pp.
Neurotransmitter 2 Duke, 1992 *
NF-kB-Inhibitor 5 Duke, 1992 *
NO-Inhibitor 3 Duke, 1992 *
NO-Synthase-Inhibitor 2 Duke, 1992 *
Nodulation-Signal 1 Jeffery B. Harborne and H. Baxter, eds. 1983. Phytochemical Dictionary. A Handbook of Bioactive Compounds from Plants. Taylor & Frost, London. 791 pp.
Ophthalmic-Antialkali 1 Jeffery B. Harborne and H. Baxter, eds. 1983. Phytochemical Dictionary. A Handbook of Bioactive Compounds from Plants. Taylor & Frost, London. 791 pp.
Ornithine-Decarboxylase-Inhibitor 3 Duke, 1992 *
Osteogenic 1 Davies, S., and Stewart, A. 1990. Nutritional Medicine. Avon Books, New York. 509pp.
Oxidase-Inhibitor 1 Jeffery B. Harborne and H. Baxter, eds. 1983. Phytochemical Dictionary. A Handbook of Bioactive Compounds from Plants. Taylor & Frost, London. 791 pp.