{{Short description|Species of flowering plant in the buttercup family}} {{Use dmy dates|date=October 2025}} {{Use British English|date=May 2011}} {{Speciesbox |image=Nsativa001Wien.jpg |genus=Nigella |species=sativa |authority=L. |synonyms ={{Species list |Nigella cretica|Mill. |Nigella indica|Roxb. |Nigella truncata|Viv. }} |synonyms_ref=<ref name=powo/> }}
'''''Nigella sativa''''' (common names, '''black caraway''', '''black cumin''', '''nigella''', '''charnushka''', or '''kalonji'''){{r|powo|GRIN|drugs}} is an annual flowering plant in the family Ranunculaceae, native to western Asia (the Levant, Cyprus, Turkey, Iran and Iraq), and eastern Europe (Bulgaria and Romania).{{r|powo}}
It is naturalised over parts of Europe, North Africa, and east to Myanmar.{{r|powo}} It is used as a spice in various food preparations.{{r|engels}}
==Etymology== The genus name ''Nigella'' is a diminutive of the Latin {{Lang|la|niger}} "black", referring to the colour of the seeds.{{r|engels|HyamPank95}} The specific epithet ''sativa'' means "cultivated".{{r|engels}}
==Common names== In food preparation, ''Nigella sativa'' and its seeds are variously called black caraway, black seed, black cumin, charnushka, fennel flower, nigella, nutmeg flower, Roman coriander,{{r|GRIN|engels}} or black onion seed.<ref>{{cite web |title=Nigella seed |url=https://www.bbcgoodfood.com/glossary/nigella-seed-glossary |website=BBC Good Food |access-date=16 July 2023 |language=en }}</ref>
Black seed and black caraway may also refer to ''Elwendia persica'', which is also known as ''Bunium persicum''.<ref>[http://www.pfaf.org/user/Plant.aspx?LatinName=Bunium+persicum ''Bunium persicum'' - (Boiss.) B.Fedtsch. Common name black caraway]</ref>
==Origin and distribution== ''N. sativa'' is native to a region from eastern Europe (Bulgaria and Romania) to West Asia.{{r|powo}}{{r|Heiss}} It has been introduced for cultivation across Europe, Russia, India, and North Africa.{{r|powo}}<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Wajs |first=Anna |last2=Bonikowski |first2=Radoslaw |last3=Kalemba |first3=Danuta |date=March 2008 |title=Composition of essential oil from seeds of Nigella sativa L. cultivated in Poland |url=https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/ffj.1866 |journal=Flavour and Fragrance Journal |language=en |volume=23 |issue=2 |pages=126–132 |doi=10.1002/ffj.1866 |issn=0882-5734|url-access=subscription }}</ref>
==Description== ''N. sativa'' grows to {{convert|20|-|30|cm|abbr=on}} tall, with finely divided, linear (but not thread-like) leaves. The flowers are delicate, and usually 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).{{r|engels}}
{{gallery || |Nigella sativa MHNT.BOT.2015.34.22.jpg|Fruits |Black cumin seed.png|Seeds |Nigella Sativa Seed.jpg|Close-up of the seeds }}
==Culinary uses== The seeds of ''N. sativa'' are used as a spice in many cuisines.<ref name=engels/> In Palestine, the seeds are ground to make bitter qizha paste.<ref>{{Cite news |url=http://www.bbc.com/travel/story/20190327-is-the-world-ready-for-this-palestinian-dish |title=Is the world ready for this Palestinian dish? |last=Berger |first=Miriam |work=BBC News - Travel |date=28 March 2019 |language=en |access-date=28 March 2019 }}</ref>
The dry-roasted seeds season 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 season 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 are most recognisable in some variations of ''naan'', such as nân-e barbari.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.smithsonianmag.com/arts-culture/nigella-seeds-what-the-heck-do-i-do-with-those-29298883/?no-ist |title=Nigella Seeds: What the Heck Do I Do with Those? |publisher=The Smithsonian Online |author=Bramen L |website=smithsonian.com |date=16 February 2011 |access-date=4 January 2015 }}</ref> ''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 flavoring.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Substances generally recognized as safe: Sec. 182.10. Spices and other natural seasonings and flavorings |url=https://www.accessdata.fda.gov/scripts/cdrh/cfdocs/cfcfr/cfrsearch.cfm?fr=182.10 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20040530210117/http://www.accessdata.fda.gov/scripts/cdrh/cfdocs/cfcfr/CFRSearch.cfm?FR=182.10 |url-status=dead |archive-date=30 May 2004 |publisher=US Food and Drug Administration, Code of Federal Regulations, 21CFR182.10 |date=1 April 2019 |access-date=17 May 2020 }}</ref>
==History== Archaeological evidence of the cultivation of ''N. sativa'' dates back three millennia, with ''N. sativa'' seeds found in several sites from ancient Egypt, including the Tomb of Tutankhamun.<ref name=drugs/><ref name="zohary">{{cite book |first1=Daniel |last1=Zohary |first2=Maria |last2=Hopf |first3=Ehud |last3=Weiss |title=Domestication of Plants in the Old World: The Origin and Spread of Domesticated Plants in Southwest Asia, Europe, and the Mediterranean Basin |isbn=9780199549061 |edition=Fourth |publisher=Oxford University Press |location=Oxford, UK |year=2012 |page=206 }}</ref> Seeds were found in a Hittite flask in Turkey from the second millennium BC.<ref>{{cite journal |journal=Journal of Ethnopharmacology |vauthors=Saliha B, Sipahib T, Oybak-Dönmez, E |title=Ancient nigella seeds from Boyalı Höyük in north-central Turkey |volume=124 |issue=3 |year=2009 |pages=416–20 |doi=10.1016/j.jep.2009.05.039 |pmid=19505557 }}</ref>
''N. sativa'' may have been used as a condiment of the Old World to season food.<ref name=engels/><ref name="zohary"/> The Persian physician Avicenna described ''N. sativa'' as a treatment for dyspnea in his ''The Canon of Medicine''.<ref>{{cite book |last=Avicenna |date=1999 |title=Canon of Medicine |location=Chicago |publisher=Kazi Publications }}</ref> ''N. sativa'' was used in the Middle East as a traditional medicine.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Hassanien |first1=Minar M. M. |last2=Abdel-Razek |first2=Adel G. |last3=Rudzińska |first3=Magdalena |last4=Siger |first4=Aleksander |last5=Ratusz |first5=Katarzyna |last6=Przybylski |first6=Roman |date=15 July 2014 |title=Phytochemical contents and oxidative stability of oils from non-traditional sources |journal=European Journal of Lipid Science and Technology |language=en |volume=116 |issue=11 |pages=1563–1571 |doi=10.1002/ejlt.201300475 |issn=1438-7697 }}</ref>
==Chemistry== Oils are 32% to 40% of the total composition of ''N. sativa'' seeds.<ref name=drugs/><ref name="gharby">{{cite journal |doi=10.1016/j.jssas.2013.12.001 |title=Chemical investigation of ''Nigella sativa'' L. seed oil |vauthors=Gharby S, Harhar H, Guillaume D, Roudani A, Boulbaroud S, Ibrahimi M, Ahmad M, Sultana S, BenHaddah T, Chafchaouni-Moussaouii I, Charroufa Z |journal=Journal of the Saudi Society of Agricultural Sciences |volume=14 |issue=2 |pages=172–177 |year=2015 |doi-access=free }}</ref> ''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.<ref name=drugs/> Aromatics include thymoquinone, dihydrothymoquinone, ''p''-cymene, carvacrol, α-thujene, thymol, α-pinene, β-pinene and ''trans''-anethole.<ref name=drugs/> Protein and various alkaloids are present in the seeds.<ref name=drugs/>
==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.<ref name=drugs/> One meta-analysis of clinical trials found weak evidence that ''N. sativa'' has a short-term benefit on lowering systolic and diastolic blood pressure.<ref>{{cite journal |vauthors=Sahebkar A, Soranna D, Liu X, et al. |title=A systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials investigating the effects of supplementation with ''Nigella sativa'' (black seed) on blood pressure |journal=Journal of Hypertension |volume=34 |issue=11 |pages=2127–35 |year=2016 |pmid=27512971 |doi=10.1097/HJH.0000000000001049 |s2cid=3226588 |url=https://dx.doi.org/10.1097%2FHJH.0000000000001049 |url-access=subscription }}</ref> A 2016 review indicated that ''N. sativa'' supplementation may lower total cholesterol, LDL, and triglyceride levels.<ref>{{cite journal |vauthors=Sahebkar A, Beccuti G, Simental-Mendía LE, Nobili V, Bo S |title=Nigella sativa (black seed) effects on plasma lipid concentrations in humans: A systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized placebo-controlled trials |pmid=26875640 |journal=Pharmacological Research |volume=106 |pages=37–50 |year=2016 |doi=10.1016/j.phrs.2016.02.008 |hdl=2318/1562112 |hdl-access=free }}</ref>
== See also == * ''Nigella damascena'' (love-in-a-mist)
==References== {{Reflist|refs= <ref name="drugs">{{Cite web |title=Kalonji |url=https://www.drugs.com/npp/kalonji.html |publisher=Drugs.com |access-date=16 July 2021 }}</ref> <ref name="engels">{{Cite web |title=''Nigella sativa'' |url=http://cms.herbalgram.org/herbalgram/issue114/hg114-herbprofile.html?ts=1588343219&signature=4d088c6c21b53fee8d812e3f7e2a4fbc |last1=Engels |first1=Gayle |last2=Brinckmann |first2=Josef |date=2017 |publisher=Herbalgram, American Botanical Council |access-date=1 May 2020 }}{{Dead link|date=December 2025 |bot=InternetArchiveBot }}</ref> <ref name="GRIN">{{GRIN | access-date=11 December 2017 }}</ref> <ref name="Heiss">{{cite journal |last=Heiss |first=Andreas |title=The oldest evidence of ''Nigella damascena'' L. (Ranunculaceae) and its possible introduction to central Europe |journal=Vegetation History and Archaeobotany |volume=14 |issue=4 |pages=562–570 |jstor=23419312 |date=December 2005 |doi=10.1007/s00334-005-0060-4 |bibcode=2005VegHA..14..562H |citeseerx=10.1.1.156.85 |s2cid=18895456 }}</ref> <ref name="HyamPank95">{{Cite book |last1=Hyam |first1=R. |last2=Pankhurst |first2=R.J. |year=1995 |title=Plants and their names: a concise dictionary |location=Oxford, UK |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=978-0-19-866189-4 |name-list-style=amp}} p. 341.</ref> <ref name="powo">{{cite web |title=''Nigella sativa'' L. |work=Plants of the World Online |publisher=Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew |url=https://powo.science.kew.org/taxon/urn:lsid:ipni.org:names:711687-1 |access-date=11 November 2020 }}</ref>
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{{Herbs and spices}} {{Taxonbar|from=Q160575}} {{Authority control}}
sativa Category:Medicinal plants Category:Spices Category:Herbs Category:Plants described in 1753 Category:Botanical taxa named by Carl Linnaeus