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   » » Wiki: Nigella Sativa
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Nigella sativa (common names, black caraway, black cumin, nigella or kalonji) is an in the family , native to western Asia (Arabia, the , Cyprus, Turkey, Iran and Iraq), and eastern Europe (Bulgaria and Romania). It is naturalized over parts of Europe, northern Africa, and east to . It is used as a spice in various food preparations, especially in and cuisines.


Etymology
The genus name Nigella is a of the niger "black", referring to the seed color. The specific epithet sativa means "cultivated".


Common names
In food preparation, Nigella sativa and its seeds are variously called black caraway, black seed, black cumin, fennel flower, nigella, nutmeg flower, Roman coriander, or black onion seed.

Black seed and black caraway may also refer to , which is also known as Bunium persicum. Bunium persicum - (Boiss.) B.Fedtsch. Common name black caraway


Description
N. sativa grows to tall, with finely divided, linear (but not thread-like) . The 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 which are used as spice, sometimes as a replacement for Bunium bulbocastanum (also called black cumin).


Culinary uses
The of N. sativa are used as a spice in many cuisines. In Palestine, the seeds are ground to make bitter paste.

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 (meaning a mixture of five spices) in many recipes in and most recognizably in some variations of , such as . Nigella is also used in , 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.


History
evidence about the earliest cultivation of N. sativa dates back three , with N. sativa seeds found in several sites from , including the Tomb of Tutankhamun.
(2025). 9780199549061, Oxford University Press.
Seeds were found in a flask in from the second millennium BC.

N. sativa may have been used as a of the to flavour food. The physician described N. sativa as a treatment for dyspnea in his The Canon of Medicine. N. sativa was used in the Middle East as a traditional medicine.


Chemistry
Oils are 32% to 40% of the total composition of N. sativa seeds. N. sativa oil contains linoleic acid, , , and trans-, and other minor constituents, such as nigellicine, nigellidine, nigellimine, and nigellimine N-oxide. include , dihydrothymoquinone, , , α-thujene, , α-pinene, β-pinene and trans-. and various are present in the seeds.


Folk medicine
Despite considerable use of N. sativa in folk 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. One meta-analysis of clinical trials found weak evidence that N. sativa has a short-term benefit on lowering systolic and diastolic blood pressure. A 2016 review indicated that N. sativa supplementation may lower , LDL, and levels.


See also
  • Nigella damascena (love-in-a-mist)

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