Common Name: Black Cumin

General Information

Nigella sativa is an erect, much-branched annual plant with a well-developed taproot. It can grow up to 70cm tall[, ].
The seeds are often used as a condiments, medicine and source of an essential and fixed oil. The plant can be harvested from the wild but is also often cultivated, especially in east Africa, the former Soviet Union and in the subtropical belt extending from Morocco to northern India and Bangladesh[].

Known Hazards

None known

Botanical References

,

Range

Southeast Europe - Romania, Bulgaria; W. Asia - Turkey, Caucasus, Iraq, Iran

Habitat

Waste places, arable land and waysides[].

Properties

Edibility Rating
Medicinal Rating
Other Uses Rating
Habit	Annual
Height	0.35 m
Pollinators	Bees, Self
Self-fertile	Yes
Cultivation Status	Cultivated, Wild

Cultivation Details

Nigella sativa is a plant of the subtropics, it can also be cultivated in the temperate zone and at higher elevations from 1,500 - 2,500 metres in the tropics[]. It grows best in areas where annual daytime temperatures are within the range 14 - 26°c, but can tolerate 5 - 30°c[]. It prefers a mean annual rainfall in the range 600 - 800mm, but tolerates 400 - 1,000mm[].
Easily grown in any good garden soil, preferring a sunny position[, ]. Prefers a light soil in a warm position[]. Prefers a pH in the range 6.5 - 7.3, tolerating 6 - 8[].
Plants commence flowering about 100 days after sowing the seed, with mature seed being ready to harvest 50 days later[].
The seed is aromatic with a nutmeg scent[].
A greedy plant, inhibiting the growth of nearby plants, especially legumes[].

Edible Uses

Seed - raw or cooked. Normally used as a flavouring on bread, cakes, curries, pickles etc[, , , , ]. There is a belief that eating the seed will make a woman's breasts plumper[]. The seed is a very popular spice from the Mediterranean to India. It has a pungent flavour according to one report[] whilst another says that it has a spicy fruity taste[] and a third that the scent is somewhat like nutmeg[]. The immature seed is bitter, but when fully ripe it is aromatic[]. It is also used as a pepper substitute[]. In Arab countries, a few seeds mixed with honey are taken as a sweet[].

Medicinal

Black cumin seeds are used in the treatment of a wide range of conditions, including headache, rheumatic pains, asthma and coughs. Like many aromatic culinary herbs, they are especially beneficial for the digestive system, soothing stomach pains and spasms and easing wind, bloating and colic[, ].
The ripe seed is anthelmintic, carminative, diaphoretic, digestive, diuretic, emmenagogue, galactagogue, laxative and stimulant[, , , , ]. An infusion is used in the treatment of digestive and menstrual disorders, insufficient lactation and bronchial complaints[, ]. The seeds are much used in India to increase the flow of milk in nursing mothers and they can also be used to treat intestinal worms, especially in children[].
A powdered mixture of the seeds, combined with those of Fenugreek (Trigonella foenum-graecum), Cress (Lepidium sativum), Myrrh (Commiphora spp.) and the dried leaves of Cleome droserifolia, Ambrosia maritima and Centaurium pulchellum, administered as tea, is used in Egypt to treat diabetes[].
Externally, the seed is ground into a powder, mixed with sesame oil and used to treat abscesses, haemorrhoids and orchitis[, ]. The powdered seed has been used to remove lice from the hair[].

The effectiveness of the seeds in the treatment of several diseases has been confirmed experimentally:-
The lipid part of the ether-extracted seeds exhibits galactagogue action[].
Aqueous extracts have a broncho-dilatory effect explaining the seed's effectiveness against cough. This effect is attributed to the compound thymoquinone, but other compounds also play a role[].
The powdered seeds are as effective as the commercial drug niclosamide against the tapeworms Taenia saginata and Hymenolepis nana in children[]. Powdered seeds have also been found to be effective against the tapeworm Moniezia expansa in sheep[].
Extracts of the seeds are currently being tested for their effect against rheumatism and related inflammatory diseases, in reducing the side-effects of chemotherapy in the treatment of cancer and in invigorating the immune function in humans[].

Other Uses

The aromatic seed contains about 1.5% essential oil[]. It is placed amongst clothes etc to repel moths[]. The seeds can also be put in muslin bags and hung near a fire when they will fill the room with their delicious scent[]. They need to be changed about every three weeks[].

The seed contains 35% of a fatty oil[, ].

Propagation

Seed - sow in situ[]. Plants can be transplanted if necessary[]. Seedlings are too fragile for transplanting[].
Under normal dry room conditions, seed remains viable for 2 - 3 years[].

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