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Contents

   



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1 Etymology  





2 Description  





3 Culinary uses  





4 History  





5 Chemistry  





6 Research  





7 Traditional medicine  





8 See also  





9 References  














Nigella sativa






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From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
 

(Redirected from Nigella seeds)

Nigella sativa
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Eudicots
Order: Ranunculales
Family: Ranunculaceae
Genus: Nigella
Species:
N. sativa
Binomial name
Nigella sativa

L.

Synonyms[1]
  • Nigella cretica Mill.
  • Nigella indica Roxb.
  • Nigella truncata Viv.

Nigella sativa (black caraway, also known as black cumin, nigella, kalonji, charnushka[2])[3][4][5] is an annual flowering plant in the family Ranunculaceae, native to eastern Europe (Bulgaria and Romania) and western Asia (Cyprus, Turkey, Iran and Iraq), but naturalized over a much wider area, including parts of Europe, northern Africa and east to Myanmar.[1] It is used as a spice in many cuisines.[6]

Etymology[edit]

The genus name Nigella is a diminutive of the Latin niger "black", referring to the seed color.[6][7] The specific epithet sativa means "cultivated".[6]

In English, Nigella sativa and its seed are variously called black caraway, black seed, black cumin, fennel flower, nigella, nutmeg flower, Roman coriander,[3][6] black onion seed[8] and kalonji.[5]

Black seed and black caraway may also refer to Elwendia persica, which is also known as Bunium persicum.[9]

Description[edit]

N. 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 coloured pale blue and white, with five to ten petals. The 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 Bunium bulbocastanum (also called black cumin).[6]

  • Seeds
    Seeds
  • Close-up of the seeds
    Close-up of the seeds
  • Culinary uses[edit]

    The seedsofN. sativa are used as a spice in many cuisines.[6]InPalestine, the seeds are ground to make bitter qizha paste.[10]

    The dry-roasted seeds flavour curries, vegetables, and pulses. They can be used as a seasoning in recipes with pod fruit, vegetables, salads, and poultry. In some cultures, the black seeds are used to flavour bread products. They are used as a part of the spice mixture panch phoron (meaning a mixture of five spices) in many recipes in Bengali cuisine and most recognizably in some variations of naan, such as nân-e barbari.[11] Nigella is also used in tresse cheese, a braided string cheese called majdoulehormajdouli in the Middle East.

    In the United States, the Food and Drug Administration classifies Nigella sativaasGenerally Recognized as Safe (GRAS) for use as a spice, natural seasoning, or flavouring.[12]

    History[edit]

    Archaeological evidence about the earliest cultivation of N. sativa dates back three millennia, with N. sativa seeds found in several sites from ancient Egypt, including the Tomb of Tutankhamun.[5][13] Seeds were found in a Hittite flask in Turkey from the second millennium BC.[14]

    N. sativa may have been used as a condiment of the Old World to flavour food.[6][13] The Muslim physician Avicenna described N. sativa as a treatment for dyspnea in his The Canon of Medicine.[15] N. sativa was used in the Middle East as a traditional medicine.[16]

    Chemistry[edit]

    Oils are 32% to 40% of the total composition of N. sativa seeds.[5][17] N. sativa oil contains linoleic acid, oleic acid, palmitic acid, and trans-anethole, and other minor constituents, such as nigellicine, nigellidine, nigellimine, and nigellimine N-oxide.[5] Aromatics include thymoquinone, dihydrothymoquinone, p-cymene, carvacrol, α-thujene, thymol, α-pinene, β-pinene and trans-anethole.[5] Protein and various alkaloids are present in the seeds.[5]

    Research[edit]

    One meta-analysis of clinical trials found weak evidence that N. sativa has a short-term benefit on lowering systolic and diastolic blood pressure.[18] A 2016 review indicated that N. sativa supplementation may lower total cholesterol, LDL, and triglyceride levels.[19]

    Traditional medicine[edit]

    Despite considerable use of N. sativaintraditional medicine practices in Africa and Asia, there is insufficient high-quality clinical evidence to indicate that consuming the seeds or oil can be used to treat human diseases.[5]

    See also[edit]

    References[edit]

    1. ^ a b "Nigella sativa L." Plants of the World Online. Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. Retrieved 11 November 2020.
  • ^ Falkowitz, Max. "Spice Hunting: Charnushka". Serious Eats. Retrieved 25 March 2023.
  • ^ a b "Nigella sativa". Germplasm Resources Information Network. Agricultural Research Service, United States Department of Agriculture. Retrieved 11 December 2017.
  • ^ 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. Bibcode:2005VegHA..14..562H. CiteSeerX 10.1.1.156.85. doi:10.1007/s00334-005-0060-4. JSTOR 23419312. S2CID 18895456.
  • ^ a b c d e f g h "Kalonji". Drugs.com. Retrieved 16 July 2021.
  • ^ a b c d e f g Engels, Gayle; Brinckmann, Josef (2017). "Nigella sativa". Herbalgram, American Botanical Council. Retrieved 1 May 2020.
  • ^ 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.
  • ^ "Nigella seed". BBC Good Food. Retrieved 16 July 2023.
  • ^ Bunium persicum - (Boiss.) B.Fedtsch. Common Name Black Caraway
  • ^ Berger, Miriam (28 March 2019). "Is the world ready for this Palestinian dish?". BBC News - Travel. Retrieved 28 March 2019.
  • ^ Bramen L (16 February 2011). "Nigella Seeds: What the Heck Do I Do with Those?". smithsonian.com. The Smithsonian Online. Retrieved 4 January 2015.
  • ^ "Substances generally recognized as safe: Sec. 182.10. Spices and other natural seasonings and flavorings". US Food and Drug Administration, Code of Federal Regulations, 21CFR182.10. 1 April 2019. Retrieved 17 May 2020.
  • ^ a b Zohary, Daniel; Hopf, Maria; Weiss, Ehud (2012). Domestication of Plants in the Old World: The Origin and Spread of Domesticated Plants in Southwest Asia, Europe, and the Mediterranean Basin (Fourth ed.). Oxford: University Press. p. 206. ISBN 9780199549061.
  • ^ 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. PMID 19505557.{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  • ^ Avicenna (1999). Canon of Medicine. Chicago: Kazi Publications.
  • ^ Hassanien, Minar M. M.; Abdel-Razek, Adel G.; Rudzińska, Magdalena; Siger, Aleksander; Ratusz, Katarzyna; Przybylski, Roman (15 July 2014). "Phytochemical contents and oxidative stability of oils from non-traditional sources". European Journal of Lipid Science and Technology. 116 (11): 1563–1571. doi:10.1002/ejlt.201300475. ISSN 1438-7697.
  • ^ Gharby S, Harhar H, Guillaume D, Roudani A, Boulbaroud S, Ibrahimi M, Ahmad M, Sultana S, BenHaddah T, Chafchaouni-Moussaouii I, Charroufa Z (2015). "Chemical investigation of Nigella sativa L. seed oil". Journal of the Saudi Society of Agricultural Sciences. 14 (2): 172–177. doi:10.1016/j.jssas.2013.12.001.
  • ^ 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". Journal of Hypertension. 34 (11): 2127–35. doi:10.1097/HJH.0000000000001049. PMID 27512971. S2CID 3226588.
  • ^ Sahebkar A, Beccuti G, Simental-Mendía LE, Nobili V, Bo S (2016). "Nigella sativa (black seed) effects on plasma lipid concentrations in humans: A systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized placebo-controlled trials". Pharmacological Research. 106: 37–50. doi:10.1016/j.phrs.2016.02.008. hdl:2318/1562112. PMID 26875640.

  • Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Nigella_sativa&oldid=1234211601"

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