Journal of the Saudi Society of Agricultural Sciences (Jun 2015)

Chemical investigation of Nigella sativa L. seed oil produced in Morocco

  • Said Gharby,
  • Hicham Harhar,
  • Dominique Guillaume,
  • Aziza Roudani,
  • Samira Boulbaroud,
  • Mohamed Ibrahimi,
  • Mushtaq Ahmad,
  • Shazia Sultana,
  • Taibi Ben Hadda,
  • Imane Chafchaouni-Moussaoui,
  • Zoubida Charrouf

DOI
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jssas.2013.12.001
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 14, no. 2
pp. 172 – 177

Abstract

Read online

Seeds of Nigella sativa L. (black cumin or black seeds) are widely used in traditional Islamic medicine and for culinary purposes worldwide. Nigella seed oil is becoming popular in and out of the Islamic world. Composition of Nigella seed oil is known to be location-dependent. We investigated the composition of Nigella seed oil prepared by solvent- or cold press-extraction of Nigella seeds grown in Morocco. Oil extraction yield was 37% and 27% when solvent or cold press extraction methods were used, respectively. In terms of oil major components, composition of Nigella seed oil from Morocco is similar to that from other Mediterranean countries known for their Nigella seed-oil quality.

Keywords