Specifications

Nigella Sativa Seed is regarded as a valuable remedy for a number of diseases.

Nigella sativa?has a pungent bitter taste and smell. It is used primarily in confectionery and liquors.?Peshawari?naan?is, as a rule, topped with?kalonji?seeds. Nigella is also used in Armenian string cheese, a braided string cheese called Majdouleh or Majdouli in the Middle East.

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According to Zohary and Hopf, archaeological evidence about the earliest cultivation of?N. sativa?"is still scanty", but they report supposed?N.?sativa?seeds have been found in several sites from?ancient Egypt, including?Tutankhamun's tomb.Although its exact role in Egyptian culture is unknown, it is known that items entombed with a?pharaoh?were carefully selected to?assist him in the afterlife.

?The earliest written reference to?N.?sativa?is thought to be in the book of?Isaiah?in the Old Testament, where the reaping of nigella and wheat is contrasted (Isaiah 28: 25, 27). Easton's Bible dictionary states the Hebrew word?ketsah?refers to?N.?sativa?without doubt (although not all translations are in agreement). According to Zohary and Hopf,?N. sativa?was another traditional condiment of the Old World during classical times; and its black seeds were extensively used to flavour food.

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Found in Hittite flask in Turkey from 2nd millennium BCE.

Thymoquinone, found in the seed oil extract of?N. sativa, has been shown to have?anti-neoplastic?effects in rats and mice and in cultured human cells from several types of cancer, including?pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma.It has protective antioxidant and anti-inflammatory effects, and promotes?apoptosis?(cell death) of the cancer cells.

Black cumin

Original black cumin?(Bunium bulbocastanum) is rarely available, so?N. sativa?is widely used instead; in India,?Carum carvi?is the substitute. Cumins are from the Apiaceae (Umbelliferae) family, but?N. sativa?is from Ranunculaceae family. Black cumin (not?N. sativa) seeds come as paired or separate carpels, and are 3–4?mm long. They have a striped pattern of nine ridges and oil canals, and are fragrant (Ayurveda says, "Kaala jaaji sugandhaa cha" (black cumin seed is fragrant itself)), blackish in colour, boat-shaped, and tapering at each extremity, with tiny stalks attached; it has been used for medicinal purposes for centuries, both as a herb and pressed into oil, in Asia, the?Middle East, and?Africa.

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