I came across information about chemicals in Equisetum arvense L. (Equisetaceae) -- Field Horsetail or the Horsetail herb from this internet source at this link:
Dr. Duke's Phytochemical & Ethnopbotanical Database
- 3-METHOXY-PYRIDINE Plant
- ACONITIC-ACID Plant
- ALUMINUM Plant 378 ppm
- ARTICULATIN Plant
- ASCORBIC-ACID Plant 208 - 7,937 ppm
- ASH Plant 7,000 - 242,000 ppm
- BETA-CAROTENE Plant 3 - 50 ppm
- BETA-SITOSTEROL Plant
- CAFFEIC-ACID Plant
- CALCIUM Plant 580 - 24,000 ppm
- CAMPESTEROL Plant
- CARBOHYDRATES Plant 44,000 - 737,000 ppm
- CHOLESTEROL Plant
- CHROMIUM Plant 22 ppm
- COBALT Plant 53 ppm
- DELTA-5,8,11,14-EICOSATETRAENIC-ACID Plant
- DELTA-7,10,13-HEXADECATRIENIC-ACID Plant
- DELTA-8,11,14-EICOSATRIENIC-ACID Plant
- DELTA-9,12,15-OCTADECATRIENIC-ACID Plant
- DIHYDROKAEMPFEROL Plant
- DIHYDROQUERCETIN Plant
- DIMETHYL-SULFONE Plant
- EQUISETINE Plant
- EQUISETONIN Plant 50,000 ppm
- EQUISETRIN Plant
- EQUISETROSIDE Plant
- FAT Plant 2,000 - 32,000 ppm
- FERULIC-ACID Plant
- FIBER Plant 71,000 - 235,000 ppm
- FLAVONOIDS Plant 2,700 - 5,100 ppm
- GALLIC-ACID Plant
- GALUTEOLIN Plant
- GOSSYPITRIN Plant
- HERBACETRIN Plant
- IRON Plant 698 - 1,230 ppm
- ISOFUCOSTEROL Plant
- ISOQUERCITRIN Plant
- ISOQUERCITROSIDE Plant 600 - 2,000 ppm
- KAEMPFEROL Plant
- KAEMPFEROL-7-DIGLUCOSIDE Plant
- KILOCALORIES Plant 200 - 3,170 /kg
- LUTEOLIN Plant
- LUTEOLIN-5-GLUCOSIDE Plant
- MAGNESIUM Plant 4,370 ppm
- MALIC-ACID Plant
- MANGANESE Plant 69 ppm
- NARINGENIN Plant
- NIACIN Plant
- NICOTINE Plant 0.4 ppm
- OXALIC-ACID Plant
- P-COUMARIC-ACID Plant
- P-HYDROXY-BENZOIC-ACID Plant
- PALUSTRINE Plant
- PALUSTRININE Plant
- PHENOLIC-ACIDS Plant 5,000 - 8,000 ppm
- PHOSPHORUS Plant 930 - 14,762 ppm
- POTASIUM-CHLORIDE Plant 15,000 ppm
- POTASSIUM Plant 13,000 - 18,000 ppm
- PROTEIN Plant 10,000 - 114,000 ppm
- RHODOXANTHIN Plant
- RIBOFLAVIN Plant 0.7 - 1.9 ppm
- SELENIUM Plant
- SILICA Plant 60,000 - 97,000 ppm
- SILICIC-ACID Plant 50,000 - 80,000 ppm
- SILICON Plant 386 ppm
- SODIUM Plant 560 ppm
- TANNIC-ACID Plant
- THIAMIN Plant
- THIAMINASE Plant
- THYMINE Plant
- TIN Plant 14 ppm
- VANILLIC-ACID Plant
- WATER Plant 786,000 - 937,000 ppm
- ZINC Plant
ppm = parts per million
tr = trace
His website carries this disclaimer:
Disclaimer
The books his website references for the above information are:
Duke, James A. 1992. Handbook of phytochemical constituents of GRAS herbs and other economic plants. Boca Raton, FL. CRC Press.
The information above he has published on the U.S. Dept. of Agriculture website.
Next to the Tobacco plant, Field Horsetail is the herb containing the highest amount of Nicotine -- which is a very small amount compared to tobacco:
Tobacco contains: 20,000 - 40,000 ppm Nicotine in Leaf
Field Horsetail contains: 0.4 ppm Nicotine in Plant
By no means is this one resource exhaustive for providing information about the chemical properties of the horsetail herb. It is just one resource I found interesting.
