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Dr. Duke's Phytochemical and Ethnobotanical Databases
U.S. Department of Agriculture
  1. Home
  2. Silybum marianum

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
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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
FIBER(CRUDE) 0 Leaf 120000.0 -0.19 *
FIBER(DIETARY) 0 Leaf 390000.0 0.19 *
FIXED-OIL 0 Seed *
FLAVONES 0 Seed Coat 36600.0 *
FRUCTOSE 8 Seed *
FUMARIC-ACID 7 Leaf *
GAMMA-AMINOBUTYRIC-ACID 22 Seed *
GLUCOSE 7 Seed *
GLUTAMIC-ACID 8 Seed *
GLYCINE 12 Seed *
HEPTADECA-1-8-15-TRIENE-11-13-DIYN-10-OL 0 Root 800.0 *
HEPTADECA-1-8-15-TRIENE-11-13-DIYNE 0 Root 1400.0 *
HEPTADECA-1-CIS-8-CIS-15-TRIENE-11-13-DIYN-10-OL 0 Root 5.0 *
HEPTADECA-CIS-2-CIS-9-16-TRIENE-4-6-DIYNE 0 Root 5.0 *
HEPTADECATRIEN-(1,8,15)-DIIN-(11,13) 0 Root 1.4 List, P.H. and Horhammer, L., Hager's Handbuch der Pharmazeutischen Praxis, Vols. 2-6, Springer-Verlag, Berlin, 1969-1979.
HEPTADECATRIEN-(1,8,15)-DIIN-(11,13)-OL-(10) 0 Root 0.8 List, P.H. and Horhammer, L., Hager's Handbuch der Pharmazeutischen Praxis, Vols. 2-6, Springer-Verlag, Berlin, 1969-1979.
HISTAMINE 18 Seed List, P.H. and Horhammer, L., Hager's Handbuch der Pharmazeutischen Praxis, Vols. 2-6, Springer-Verlag, Berlin, 1969-1979.
IRON 6 Leaf 23.0 106.0 -0.65 *
IRON 6 Plant 106.0 -0.61 Pedersen, M. 1987. Nutritional Herbology. Pederson Publishing. Bountiful, Utah. 377 pp.
ISOSILYBIN 0 Fruit 4000.0 *
View the list of ubiquitous chemicals
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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
Tachycardic 1 Martindale's 29th
Taenicide 1 Martindale's 28th
Teratogenic 1 *
Teratologic 2 *
Testosteronigenic 1 Werbach, M. 1993. Healing with Food. Harper Collins, New York, 443 pp.
Thymoprotective 1 Pizzorno, J.E. and Murray, M.T. 1985. A Textbook of Natural Medicine. John Bastyr College Publications, Seattle, Washington (Looseleaf).
TNF-alpha-Inhibitor 5 *
Topoisomerase-I-Inhibitor 5 Santti, R., Makela, S., Strauss, L., Korman, J., Kostian, M. L. 1998. Phytoestrogens: Potential Endocrine Disruptors in Males. Toxicol Ind Health, 14: 223-237.
Topoisomerase-II-Inhibitor 3 Constantinou, A., Mehta, R., Runyan, C., Rao, K., Vaughan, A., Moon, R. 1995. Flavonoids as DNA Topoisomerase Antagonists and Poisons: Structure-Activity Relationships. J Natural Products, 58: 217-225.
Tranquilizer 3 Werbach, M. 1993. Healing with Food. Harper Collins, New York, 443 pp.
Trichomonicide 1 Martindale's 29th
Tumorigenic 1 Jim Duke's personal files.
Tyrosinase-Inhibitor 2 *
Tyrosine-Kinase-Inhibitor 1 Economic & Medicinal Plant Research, 6: 170.
Ubiquiot 2 Jeffery B. Harborne and H. Baxter, eds. 1983. Phytochemical Dictionary. A Handbook of Bioactive Compounds from Plants. Taylor & Frost, London. 791 pp.
Ulcerogenic 2 *
Uricosuric 2 Davies, S., and Stewart, A. 1990. Nutritional Medicine. Avon Books, New York. 509pp.
Urinary-Acidulant 1 Martindale's 29th
Uterorelaxant 1 Werbach, M. 1993. Healing with Food. Harper Collins, New York, 443 pp.
Uterotrophic 3 Journal of Medicinal Food 2: 227.1999.