Table 1

Particularly high melatonin levels reported for several edible and medicinal plants (selected examples).

Species
Tissue
Melatonin [ng/g]
References

(A) Edible plants



Lycopersicon esculentum (tomato)
fruit
0.5
[18]
Raphanus sativus (red radish)
root tuber
0.6
[19]
Brassica campestris (Japanese radish)
stem, leaves
0.6
[19]
Brassica nigra (black mustard)
seed
129
[24,28]
Brassica hirta (white mustard)
seed
189
[24,28]
Prunus cerasus (tart cherry, Montmorency)
fruit
15–18
[23,24]
Prunus amygdalus (almond)
seed
39
[28]
Pimpinella anisum (anise)
seed
7
[24,28]
Foeniculum vulgare (fennel)
seed
28
[24,28]
Helianthus annuus (sunflower)
seed
29
[24,28]
Oryza sativa (rice)
seed
1
[19]
Zea mays (Indian corn)
seed
1.3
[19]
Avena sativa (oat)
seed
1.8
[19]
Festuca arundinacea (tall fescue)
seed
5
[19]
Elettaria cardamomum (green cardamom)
seed
15
[24,28]
Zingiber officinale (ginger)
tuber
0.5
[19]
Musa paradisiaca (banana)
fruit
0.5
[18]




(B) Officinal plants



Melissa officinalis (balm mint)
young plant
16
[25]
Scutellaria baicalensis (huang-qin)
plant
> 2,000 – > 7,000
[24,25,27]
Pimpinella peregrina (-)
dried root
38
[25]
Hypericum perforatum (St. Johns wort)
leaf
1,750
[27]
Hypericum perforatum (St. Johns wort)
flower
> 2,400 – > 4,000
[25,27]
Lippia citriodora (lemon verbena)
young plant
22
[25]
Tanacetum parthenium (feverfew)
leaf (fresh/dried)
> 1,300/> 7,000
[24,25,27]

Hardeland and Pandi-Perumal Nutrition & Metabolism 2005 2:22   doi:10.1186/1743-7075-2-22