Milk thistle (Silybum marianum) is a wild plant grows as weed in the poor land on high way roads and as weeds in some crops in Egypt. The plant represents a problem for some farmers due to its flush grow and rich in thorns. Moreover, the plant occupies a large area of land. This work aimed to study physical and chemical properties as well the nitrogenous compounds content of the milk thistle seeds grow as a wild or cultivated in north Delta of Egypt. The obtained results revealed that milk thistle seed is a good source of lipids (29.68%(, true protein (25.25%), total carbohydrates (38.16%) and crude fibre (29.95%). The seeds of wild plants acquired greater amounts of the lipids, crude fibers and less content of carbohydrates and proteins. The amino acids were similar in both wild and cultivated plants but their contents varied. The seed protein contained markedly amounts of essential amino acids such as lysine, isolucine, leucine, valine and threonine compared with sunflower seeds meal. But the seeds are poor in sulphur containing amino acids. Amino acid score identified threonine with the highest amino acid score 490 while phenylalanine + tyrosine as the first limiting amino acids followed by tryptophan as the second one.
Key words: Milk Thistle, Sliymarin, Chemical Composition, Protein, Amino Acids
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