Nigella sativa

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Nigella sativa
Nsativa001Wien.jpg
Scientific classification OOjs UI icon edit-ltr.svg
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 creticaMill.
  • Nigella indicaRoxb.
  • Nigella truncataViv.

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]

Contents

Etymology

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

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]

Culinary uses

The seeds of N. sativa are used as a spice in many cuisines. [6] In Palestine, 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 majdouleh or majdouli in the Middle East.

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

History

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

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]

Medical research

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] with limited evidence that black seed oil or powder can reduce triglycerides and LDL and total cholesterol, while raising HDL cholesterol. [19] Despite considerable use of N. sativa in traditional 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

Related Research Articles

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Caraway, also known as meridian fennel and Persian cumin, is a biennial plant in the family Apiaceae, native to western Asia, Europe, and North Africa.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Coriander</span> Annual herb

Coriander, also known as cilantro and dhaniya, is an annual herb in the family Apiaceae. All parts of the plant are edible, but the fresh leaves and the dried seeds are the parts most traditionally used in cooking.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ajwain</span> Species of plant

Ajwain or ajowan —also known as ajowan caraway, omam , thymol seeds, bishop's weed, or carom—is an annual herb in the family Apiaceae. Both the leaves and the seed‑like fruit of the plant are consumed by humans. The name "bishop's weed" also is a common name for other plants. The "seed" is often confused with lovage seed.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Black cumin</span> Index of plants with the same common name

Black cumin can refer to the seeds of either of two quite different plants, both of which are used as spices:

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Spice mix</span> Blend of spices or herbs

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<i>Nigella</i> Genus of annual plants

Nigella is a genus of 18 species of annual plants in the family Ranunculaceae, native to Southern Europe, North Africa, South Asia, Southwest Asia and Middle East. Common names applied to members of this genus are nigella, devil-in-a-bush or love-in-a-mist.

<i>Nigella damascena</i> Species of flowering plant in the buttercup family Ranunculaceae

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<i>Trachyspermum roxburghianum</i> Species of flowering plant

Trachyspermum roxburghianum is a flowering plant in the family Apiaceae. It is grown extensively in South Asia, Southeast Asia, and Indonesia. Its aromatic dried fruits, like those of its close relative ajwain, are often used in Bengali cuisine but are rarely used in the rest of India. It is also used as a spice in Bangladesh. The fresh leaves are used as an herb in Thailand and it is used medicinally in Myanmar and Sri Lanka.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Panch phoron</span> South Asian whole spice blend

Panch phoron, panch phodan or pancha phutana is a whole spice blend, originating from the eastern part of the Indian subcontinent and used in the cuisines of Eastern India and Northeastern India, especially in the cuisines of Bhojpur, Mithila, Odisha, Assam, Bengal and Nepal. The name literally means "five spices".

<i>Elwendia persica</i> Species of plant in the family Apiaceae

Elwendia persica is a plant species in the family Apiaceae. It is related to cumin and sometimes called black cumin, blackseed, or black caraway, and has a smoky, earthy taste. It is often confused with Nigella sativa, by which it is often substituted in cooking.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Levantine cuisine</span> Cuisine of the Eastern Mediterranean

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tunisian cuisine</span> Culinary traditions of Tunisia

Tunisian cuisine, the cuisine of Tunisia, consists of the cooking traditions, ingredients, recipes and techniques developed in Tunisia since antiquity. It is mainly a blend of Mediterranean and native Punics-Berber cuisine. Historically, Tunisian cuisine witnessed influence and exchanges with many cultures and nations like Italians, Andalusians, French and Arabs.

Nigella may refer to:

The following outline is provided as an overview of and topical guide to herbs and spices:

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cumin</span> Species of plant with seeds used as a spice

Cumin is a flowering plant in the family Apiaceae, native to the Irano-Turanian Region. Its seeds – each one contained within a fruit, which is dried – are used in the cuisines of many cultures in both whole and ground form. Although cumin is used in traditional medicine, there is no high-quality evidence that it is safe or effective as a therapeutic agent.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Spice use in antiquity</span>

The history of spices reach back thousands of years, dating back to the 8th century B.C. Spices are widely known to be developed and discovered in Asian civilizations. Spices have been used in a variety of antique developments for their unique qualities. There were a variety of spices that were used for common purposes across the ancient world. Different spices hold a value that can create a variety of products designed to enhance or suppress certain taste and/or sensations. Spices were also associated with certain rituals to perpetuate a superstition or fulfill a religious obligation, among other things.

<i>Nigella arvensis</i> Species of plant in the genus Nigella

Nigella arvensis, the field nigella or wild fennel flower, is a species of flowering plant in the family Ranunculaceae. It is native to North Africa, central, southern and eastern Europe, the Caucasus region, and the Middle East as far as Iran, and has gone extinct in Switzerland and Crete. It is a minor crop, used locally as a substitute for Nigella sativa, black caraway.

References

  1. 1 2 "Nigella sativa L." Plants of the World Online. Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. Retrieved 11 November 2020.
  2. ↑ Falkowitz, Max. "Spice Hunting: Charnushka". Serious Eats. Retrieved 25 March 2023.
  3. 1 2 "Nigella sativa". Germplasm Resources Information Network . Agricultural Research Service, United States Department of Agriculture . Retrieved 11 December 2017.
  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. Bibcode:2005VegHA..14..562H. CiteSeerX   10.1.1.156.85 . doi:10.1007/s00334-005-0060-4. JSTOR   23419312. S2CID   18895456.
  5. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 "Kalonji". Drugs.com. Retrieved 16 July 2021.
  6. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Engels, Gayle; Brinckmann, Josef (2017). "Nigella sativa". Herbalgram, American Botanical Council. Retrieved 1 May 2020.
  7. ↑ 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.
  8. ↑ "Nigella seed". BBC Good Food. Retrieved 16 July 2023.
  9. ↑ Bunium persicum - (Boiss.) B.Fedtsch. Common Name Black Caraway
  10. ↑ Berger, Miriam (28 March 2019). "Is the world ready for this Palestinian dish?". BBC News - Travel. Retrieved 28 March 2019.
  11. ↑ Bramen L (16 February 2011). "Nigella Seeds: What the Heck Do I Do with Those?". smithsonian.com. The Smithsonian Online. Retrieved 4 January 2015.
  12. ↑ "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.
  13. 1 2 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.
  14. ↑ 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)
  15. ↑ Avicenna (1999). Canon of Medicine. Chicago: Kazi Publications.
  16. ↑ 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.
  17. ↑ 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 .
  18. ↑ 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.
  19. ↑ 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.
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