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Medicinal Uses of Nigella Sativa (Black Seeds)

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 International Journal of Alternative Medicine, ISSN:2051-4296, Vol.21, Issue.1 1129

Medicinal Uses of Nigella Sativa (Black Seeds)

Alya A. Almatrafi
MSc Medical Laboratory Science
Andrews University
2013
Email: zhero2009@yahoo.com

1. INTRODUCTION
Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) said: "This
black seed is a cure for every disease except death" (Sahih
Al-Bukhari, 5687). Nigella Sativa (Black seeds) is an herb
that is a member of the Ranunculaceae family (Ahmad et
al., 2013). It is also known as Kalonji in many countries
(Khan et al., 2011). Nigella Sativa (NS) was used for
several decades, including the ancient era. The medical
aspects of Nigella Sativa have been attributed to
Thymoquinone (TQ), which acts as anti-inflammatory and
antioxidant (Ahmad et al., 2013). Various investigations
have shown that the black seed has a protective effect
against bacterial, fungal, and viral infections. Scientists
have reported Nigella Sativa to be effective against tumor
formation, hypersensitivity, neuromuscular diseases,
cardiovascular diseases, gastroenteritis disease, and liver
diseases because of the mechanism of action of TQ
(Ahmad et al., 2013). These findings suggested that the
black seeds can be used as an alternative medication for
various types of diseases (Ahmad et al., 2013).
2. NIGELLA SATIVA
Nigella Sativa is a plant that is a genus of the
Ranunculaceae family (Ahmad et al., 2013). It has
different names such as seeds of blessing, black cumin,
and Kalonji (Khan et al., 2011). Black seeds are found
around the world, especially in the Middle East (Ahmad et
al., 2013). It was described as a miraculous plant because
of the unique chemical composition of this plant (Ahmad
et al., 2013).
Figure 1: Nigella Sativa (plant and seed) adopted from
(Ahmad et al., 2013).
2.1 Antioxidant Activity of Nigella Sativa
Nigella Sativa has a special chemical component that acts
as an antioxidant. This component is the thymoquinone
(TQ). An experiment was set up using rats to approve the
antioxidant property of the TQ (Ahmad et al., 2013). The
rats were injected with collagen that induced arthritis,
which caused an elevation in the inflammatory mediators’
level (Ahmad et al., 2013).
Administration of TQ reduced the inflammatory
mediators’ level and that result indicated the antioxidant
activity of thymoquinone (Ahmad et al., 2013).
2.2 Nigella Sativa as Antibacterial
A unique chemical composition of Nigella Sativa drove
the researchers to explore the potential effect of this seed
against bacteria. One of these experiments used the
ethanol extraction of NS against Methicillin-Resistant
Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) and the strains showed
sensitivity to the ethanol extraction of NS (Hannan et al.,
2008). Further, black seed has shown a powerful effect
against Helicobacter pylori (Ahmad et al., 2013).
Therefore, Nigella Sativa was classified as an antibacterial
agent.
2.3 Nigella Sativa as liver disease therapy
A miraculous plant is a name that was given to the black
seed because of the various influences of this seed on the
different diseases. From this point, NS was used against
hepatitis C virus (Barakat et al. 2013). In this experiment,
Barakat et al (2013) gave NS on a daily basis to patients
with hepatitis C. As a result, the liver enzymes such as
Alanine aminotransferase (ALT) and Aspartate
aminotransaminase (AST) were back to the normal level
and the viral load was decreased (Barakat et al. 2013).
The researchers tested the black seeds against Isoniazid
(INH) that induces a hepatotoxicity and used male rabbits
as a model (Hassan et al., 2012). NS was given orally to
the test group and the liver enzymes and histopathology
were returned to normal (Hassan et al., 2012).
Another study was done using Schistosoma mansoni, a
parasite that enters into the human body through the skin,
then migrates in the bloodstreams and enters to the liver
(Leventhal et al., 2012). In the liver, the parasite deposits
the ova that causes damage to the liver; therefore, the
scientists applied Nigella Sativa oil to the different stages
of the life cycle of S. mansoni (Ahmad et al., 2013;
Mahmoud et al., 2002). The black cumin showed anti-
parasitic activity (Ahmad et al., 2013; Mahmoud et al.,
2002).
2.4 Nigella Sativa as anti-fungal
Candida albicans is a most common organism in the
fungus world. C. albicans has different strains that
contribute to human disease (Murray et al., 2008). The
scientists discovered a new anti-fungal that was an

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 International Journal of Alternative Medicine, ISSN:2051-4296, Vol.21, Issue.1
extraction of black seeds (Ahmad et al., 2013). The
methanol extracts of NS possess an anti-fungal effect.
Methanol extract was used on mice that were injected
with C. albicans (Ahmad et al., 2013). After a period, the
growth of C. albicans was inhibited because of the
presence of the methanol extract of NS (Ahmad et al.,
2013). Ahmed et al (2013) did further studies on different
types of fungi and the outcomes were promising for the
fungicidal effect of the black seeds.
2.5 Nigella Sativa as anti-cancer
Cancer is one of the most common life-threatening
diseases in the world. Many people suffer from different
types of cancer such as blood cancer, breast cancer, colon
cancer, hepatic cancer, lung cancer, and prostate cancer.
Therefore, the scientists tried black seeds on the patients
with different types of cancer and the results reflected a
positive action of Nigella Sativa (Khan et al., 2011). For
instance, the leukemia cells in the blood cancer’s patient
did not proliferate because of the Thymoquinone action
that is found in the NS (Ahmad et al., 2013).
Black seeds were used on the breast cancer patient and the
carcinogenic cells were inactivated. This study highlights
the effectivity of the Nigella Sativa against cancer cells
(Ahmad et al., 2013).
2.6 Nigella Sativa as Anti-inflammatory
Nigella Sativa can be used in seed form or aqueous form.
The aqueous form or extraction of NS possesses an anti-
inflammatory action. In a study done by Ahmad et al
(2013), rats were injected with a lipopolysaccharide that
causes inflammation to the mix glial cells in the rat. Black
seeds were applied to the rats and the nitric oxide level
was reduced (Ahmad et al., 2013). Nitric oxide plays an
important role in the inflammation process (Kobayashi,
2010).
2.7 Nigella Sativa as Allergic Therapy
Vomiting and diarrhoea are the most common indicators
of food allergy (Waserman & Watson, 2011). Different
causative agents can cause food allergy and it is often
linked to the individual’s age (Duncker et al., 2012). For
example, egg allergy is the most common types of allergy
in infants (Tey & Heine, 2009). Finding therapy to the
allergic reaction was challenging because the scientists
have to find a compound that did not make the case worse
instead of treat that case. One of these choices was the
black cumin because of the TQ, which classified as anti-
inflammatory (Duncker et al., 2012). Mice that were used
for this study had diarrhoea that resulted from the allergic
reaction to the Ovalbumin (OVA), the main protein found
in egg white (Duncker et al., 2012).
During allergy, plasma Immunoglobulin E (IgE), an
indicator for allergic reactions was elevated, but
administrating NS reduced the IgE level (Duncker, et al.,
2012). This is another support of the action of the miracle
plant.
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1130
3. DISCUSSION
Various studies were performed to approve the beneficial
effect of Nigella Sativa on the different diseases. Other
studies highlighted the potential effects of the black seeds.
NS was used against hepatitis B virus, nephritis, asthma,
and other diseases. All these studies reached to a
conclusion that black cumin can be used as an alternative
medicine or folk medicine.
Thymoquinone was determined to be the miraculous
component of the black seeds because of the antioxidant
and anti-inflammatory properties. Additionally, NS
contain other chemical components that play an effective
role against diseases. That opens the door to look deeply
inside the NS to investigate the actual effect of each
component of that seed.
Further investigation needs to be done using black cumin
on various types of infectious diseases such as Human
immunodeficiency (HIV), Cyclospora, Human
papillomavirus (HPV), and other types of bacteria.
REFERENCES
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potential of Nigella sativa: A miracle herb. Asian
Pacific Journal of Tropical Biomedicine,
Volume (3), Pages 337-352.
[2]. Barakat, E. M., El Wakeel, L. M., and Hagag, R.
S. (2013). Effects of Nigella sativa on outcome
of hepatitis C in Egypt. World Journal of
Gastroenterology, Volume (19), Pages 2529-
2536.
[3]. Duncker mail, C. S., Philippe, D., Martin-
Paschoud, C., Moser, M., Mercenier, A., Nutten,
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(2011).Anticancer Activities of Nigella Sativa
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 International Journal of Alternative Medicine, ISSN:2051-4296, Vol.21, Issue.1 1131

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