Nigella sativa

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Nigella sativa
Nsativa001Wien.jpg
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Plantae
(unranked): Angiosperms
(unranked): Eudicots
Order: Ranunculales
Family: Ranunculaceae
Genus: Nigella
Species: N. sativa
Binomial name
Nigella sativa
L.
Synonyms[1]
  • Nigella cretica Mill.
Nigella sativa

Nigella sativa (black-caraway,[2] also known as nigella or kalonji), often called black cumin,[3][4] is an annual flowering plant in the family Ranunculaceae, native to south and southwest Asia.

Nigella sativa grows to 20–30 cm (7.9–11.8 in) tall, with finely divided, linear (but not thread-like) leaves. The flowers are delicate, and usually colored pale blue and white, with five to ten petals.

The black caraway fruit is a large and inflated capsule composed of three to seven united follicles, each containing numerous seeds which are used as spice, sometimes as a replacement for black cumin (Bunium bulbocastanum).

black cumin seed

Etymology[edit]

The genus name Nigella is a diminutive of the Latin niger (black), referring to the seeds.[5]

Common names[edit]

In English, Nigella sativa and its seed are variously called black-caraway, black-cumin, fennel-flower, nigella, nutmeg-flower, Roman-coriander,[3] and kalonji (from Hindi).[6]

Blackseed and black caraway may also refer to Bunium persicum.[7]

Culinary uses[edit]

Nigella sativa seeds

The seeds of Nigella sativa are used as a spice in Indian and Middle Eastern cuisines. The black seeds taste like a combination of onions, black pepper and oregano. They have a pungent bitter taste and smell.[6]

The dry-roasted nigella seeds flavor curries, vegetables and pulses. It can be used as a "pepper" in recipes with pod fruit, vegetables, salads and poultry. In some cultures, the black seeds are used to flavor bread products. It is also used as part of the spice mixture panch phoron (meaning a mixture of five spices) and by itself in many recipes in Bengali cuisine and most recognizably in naan bread.[8] Nigella is also used in Armenian string cheese, a braided string cheese called majdouleh or majdouli in the Middle East.

History[edit]

According to Zohary and Hopf, archaeological evidence about the earliest cultivation of N. sativa "is still scanty", but they report supposed N. sativa seeds have been found in several sites from ancient Egypt, including Tutankhamun's tomb.[9] Although its exact role in Egyptian culture is unknown, it is known that items entombed with a pharaoh were carefully selected to assist him in the afterlife. Seeds were found in a Hittite flask in Turkey from the second millennium BCE.[10]

The earliest written reference to N. sativa is thought to be in the book of Isaiah in the Old Testament, where the reaping of nigella and wheat is contrasted (Isaiah 28: 25, 27). Easton's Bible dictionary states the Hebrew word ketsah refers to N. sativa without doubt (although not all translations are in agreement). According to Zohary and Hopf, N. sativa was another traditional condiment of the Old World during classical times, and its black seeds were extensively used to flavor food.[9]

The famous Persian physician Avicenna, in his Canon of Medicine, describes N. sativa and mentions in particular its use for dyspnea.[11]

Chemistry[edit]

Nigella sativa oil contains conjugated linoleic (18:2) acid, thymoquinone, nigellone (dithymoquinone),[12] melanthin, nigilline, and trans-anethole.[6]

Medicinal use[edit]

N. sativa has a long history of use as medicine. Modern clinical trials have begun to investigate its efficacy, mainly using the seed oil extract, volatile oil, and isolated constituent thymoquinone.[13] The most trials, and those of the best quality to date, provide preliminary support for its use in asthma (for both prevention and treatment of acute attacks), allergic rhinitis, and atopic dermatitis.[14] Smaller and less rigorous studies suggest it might help people with functional dyspepsia, respiratory problems due to mustard gas poisoning, seizure disorders, diabetes mellitus and the metabolic syndrome, and opioid addiction.[14] One meta-analysis of clinical trials concluded that N. sativa has a short-term benefit on lowering systolic and diastolic blood pressure, and another found that various extracts of black seed can reduce triglyercides, LDL and total cholesterol while raising HDL cholesterol.[15][16]

References[edit]

  1. ^ "The Plant List: A Working List of All Plant Species". 
  2. ^ "BSBI List 2007". Botanical Society of Britain and Ireland. Archived from the original (xls) on 2015-02-25. Retrieved 2014-10-17. 
  3. ^ a b "USDA GRIN Taxonomy". 
  4. ^ Heiss, Andreas (December 2005). "The oldest evidence of Nigella damascena L. (Ranunculaceae) and its possible introduction to central Europe". Vegetation History and Archaeobotany. 14 (4): 562–570. doi:10.1007/s00334-005-0060-4. JSTOR 23419312. (registration required (help)). 
  5. ^ Hyam, R. & Pankhurst, R.J. (1995). Plants and their names : a concise dictionary. Oxford: Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-866189-4.  p. 341.
  6. ^ a b c Bharat B Aggarwal. Molecular Targets and Therapeutic Uses of Spices. Google Books. p. 259. ISBN 978-981-4468-95-4. Retrieved 4 January 2015. 
  7. ^ Bunium persicum - (Boiss.) B.Fedtsch. Common Name Black Caraway
  8. ^ Bramen L (16 February 2011). "Nigella Seeds: What the Heck Do I Do with Those?". smithsonian.com. The Smithsonian Online. Retrieved 4 January 2015. 
  9. ^ a b Zohary, Daniel; Hopf, Maria (2000). Domestication of plants in the Old World (3 ed.). Oxford University Press. p. 206. ISBN 0-19-850356-3. 
  10. ^ Saliha B, Sipahib T, Oybak Dönmez, E (2009). "Ancient nigella seeds from Boyalı Höyük in north-central Turkey". Journal of Ethnopharmacology. 124 (3): 416–20. doi:10.1016/j.jep.2009.05.039. 
  11. ^ Avicenna (1999). Canon of Medicine. Chicago: Kazi Publications. 
  12. ^ Mohammad Hossein Boskabady; Batool Shirmohammadi (2002). "Effect of Nigella Sativa on Isolated Guinea Pig Trachea" (PDF). Arch. Iran. Med. 5 (2): 103–107. 
  13. ^ Ali BH, Blunden G (2003). "Pharmacological and toxicological properties of Nigella sativa". Phytother Res. 17 (4): 299–305. doi:10.1002/ptr.1309. PMID 12722128. 
  14. ^ a b Yarnell E, Abascal K (2011). "Nigella sativa: Holy herb of the Middle East". Altern Complemen Ther. 17 (2): 99–105. doi:10.1089/act.2011.17203. 
  15. ^ Sahebkar A, Soranna D, Liu X, et al. (2016). "A systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials investigating the effects of supplementation with Nigella sativa (black seed) on blood pressure". J Hypertens. 34 (11): 2127–2135. doi:10.1097/HJH.0000000000001049. PMID 27512971. 
  16. ^ Sahebkar A, Beccuti G, Simental-Mendía LE, et al. (2016). "Nigella sativa (black seed) effects on plasma lipid concentrations in humans: A systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized placebo-controlled trials". Pharmacol Res. 106: 37–50. doi:10.1016/j.phrs.2016.02.008. PMID 26875640. 

External links[edit]

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