Biology:Nigella sativa
| Nigella sativa | |
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Scientific classification 
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| Kingdom: | Plantae |
| Clade: | Tracheophytes |
| Clade: | Angiosperms |
| Clade: | Eudicots |
| Order: | Ranunculales |
| Family: | Ranunculaceae |
| Genus: | Nigella |
| Species: | N. sativa
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| Binomial name | |
| Nigella sativa | |
| Synonyms[1] | |
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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
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]
Fruits
Seeds
Close-up of the seeds
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
- Nigella damascena (love-in-a-mist)
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 "Nigella sativa L.". Plants of the World Online. Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. https://powo.science.kew.org/taxon/urn:lsid:ipni.org:names:711687-1.
- ↑ Falkowitz, Max. "Spice Hunting: Charnushka" (in en). https://www.seriouseats.com/spice-hunting-charnushka-nigella-onion-seed.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 {{citation | mode = cs1 | title = Nigella sativa | work = Germplasm Resources Information Network (GRIN) | url = | publisher = [[Organization:Agricultural Research ServAgricultural Research Service (ARS), United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) | access-date = 2017-12-11 }}
- ↑ 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. doi:10.1007/s00334-005-0060-4.
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 5.3 5.4 5.5 5.6 5.7 "Kalonji". Drugs.com. https://www.drugs.com/npp/kalonji.html.
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 6.3 6.4 6.5 6.6 Engels, Gayle; Brinckmann, Josef (2017). "Nigella sativa". Herbalgram, American Botanical Council. http://cms.herbalgram.org/herbalgram/issue114/hg114-herbprofile.html?ts=1588343219&signature=4d088c6c21b53fee8d812e3f7e2a4fbc.
- ↑ 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" (in en). https://www.bbcgoodfood.com/glossary/nigella-seed-glossary.
- ↑ Bunium persicum - (Boiss.) B.Fedtsch. Common Name Black Caraway
- ↑ Berger, Miriam (2019-03-28). "Is the world ready for this Palestinian dish?" (in en). BBC News - Travel. http://www.bbc.com/travel/story/20190327-is-the-world-ready-for-this-palestinian-dish.
- ↑ Bramen L (16 February 2011). "Nigella Seeds: What the Heck Do I Do with Those?". The Smithsonian Online. http://www.smithsonianmag.com/arts-culture/nigella-seeds-what-the-heck-do-i-do-with-those-29298883/?no-ist.
- ↑ "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. 2019-04-01. https://www.accessdata.fda.gov/scripts/cdrh/cfdocs/cfcfr/cfrsearch.cfm?fr=182.10.
- ↑ 13.0 13.1 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.
- ↑ 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" (in en). European Journal of Lipid Science and Technology 116 (11): 1563–1571. doi:10.1002/ejlt.201300475. ISSN 1438-7697.
- ↑ "Chemical investigation of Nigella sativa L. seed oil". Journal of the Saudi Society of Agricultural Sciences 14 (2): 172–177. 2015. doi:10.1016/j.jssas.2013.12.001.
- ↑ "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. 2016. doi:10.1097/HJH.0000000000001049. PMID 27512971. https://dx.doi.org/10.1097%2FHJH.0000000000001049.
- ↑ "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. 2016. doi:10.1016/j.phrs.2016.02.008. PMID 26875640.
Wikidata ☰ Q160575 entry
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