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| Common name: | Black cumin | Family: | Ranunculaceae |
| Author: | L. | Botanical references: | 50, 74 |
| Synonyms: | |||
| Known Hazards: | None known | ||
| Range: | N. Africa to Ethiopia and W. Asia. | ||
| Habitat: | Waste places, arable land and waysides[9]. | ||
| Plants For A Future Rating (1-5): | 3 | ||
| Other Possible Synonyms: | From various places across the web, may not be correct. See below. | ||
| N. sativum[E] | |||
| Other Common Names: | From various places around the Web, may not be correct. See below. | ||
| Ajenuz [E], Black Cumin [H,P,E], Corekotu [E], Cummin,Black [E], Fennel Flower [H], Habbat Soda [E], Jintan Hitam [E], Kalonji [H], Nutmeg Flower [H], Roman Coriander [H], Tarate [E], | |||
| Epithets: | From a Dictionary of Botanical Epithets | ||
| sativa = cultivated; | |||
| Other Range Info: | From the Ethnobotany Database | ||
| Ethiopia; Europe; India; Iraq; Java; Malaya; Spain; Turkey | |||
Annual growing to 0.35m by 0.2m . It is not frost tender. It is in flower in July, and the seeds ripen in September. The scented flowers are hermaphrodite (have both male and female organs) and are pollinated by Bees. We rate it 3 out of 5 for usefulness.
The plant prefers light (sandy), medium (loamy) and heavy (clay) soils and requires well-drained soil. The plant prefers acid, neutral and basic (alkaline) soils. It cannot grow in the shade. It requires dry or moist soil.
Seed - raw or cooked. Normally used as a flavouring on bread, cakes, curries, pickles etc[4, 9, 74, 100, 183]. There is a belief that eating the seed will make a woman's breasts plumper[245]. The seed is a very popular spice from the Mediterranean to India. It has a pungent flavour according to one report[46] whilst another says that it has a spicy fruity taste[238] and a third that the scent is somewhat like nutmeg[245]. The immature seed is bitter, but when fully ripe it is aromatic[9]. It is also used as a pepper substitute[4].
Anthelmintic; Carminative; Diaphoretic; Digestive; Diuretic; Emmenagogue; Galactogogue; Parasiticide; Stimulant.
Like many aromatic culinary herbs, the seeds of black cumin are beneficial
for the digestive system, soothing stomach pains and spasms and easing wind,
bloating and colic[254].
The ripe seed is anthelmintic, carminative,
diaphoretic, digestive, diuretic, emmenagogue, galactogogue, laxative and
stimulant[4, 9, 46, 238, 240]. An infusion is used in the treatment of digestive
and menstrual disorders, insufficient lactation and bronchial complaints[9,
238]. The seeds are much used in India to increase the flow of milk in nursing
mothers and they can also be used to treat intestinal worms, especially in
children[254]. Externally, the seed is ground into a powder, mixed with sesame
oil and used to treat abscesses, haemorrhoids and orchitis[238, 240]. The
powdered seed has been used to remove lice from the hair[245].
The aromatic seed contains about 1.5% essential oil[240]. It is placed
amongst clothes etc to repel moths[4]. The seeds can also be put in muslin bags
and hung near a fire when they will fill the room with their delicious
scent[245]. They need to be changed about every three weeks[245].
The
seed contains 35% of a fatty oil[74, 240].
See the PFAF Links Pages for other sources or the The Gatherer where you can search many other sources all in one go.
[1] F. Chittendon. RHS Dictionary of Plants plus Supplement.
1956 Oxford University Press 1951
Comprehensive listing of species and
how to grow them. Somewhat outdated, it has been replaces in 1992 by a new
dictionary (see [200]).
[2] Hedrick. U. P. Sturtevant's Edible Plants of the World.
Dover Publications 1972 ISBN 0-486-20459-6
Lots of entries, quite a lot of
information in most entries and references.
[4] Grieve. A Modern Herbal. Penguin 1984 ISBN
0-14-046-440-9
Not so modern (1930's?) but lots of information, mainly
temperate plants.
[9] Launert. E. Edible and Medicinal Plants. Hamlyn 1981 ISBN
0-600-37216-2
Covers plants in Europe. a drawing of each plant, quite a bit
of interesting information.
[37] Thompson. B. The Gardener's Assistant. Blackie and Son.
1878
Excellent general but extensive guide to gardening practices in the
19th century. A very good section on fruits and vegetables with many little
known species.
[46] Uphof. J. C. Th. Dictionary of Economic Plants. Weinheim
1959
An excellent and very comprehensive guide but it only gives very short
descriptions of the uses without any details of how to utilize the plants. Not
for the casual reader.
[50] ? Flora Europaea Cambridge University Press 1964
An
immense work in 6 volumes (including the index). The standard reference flora
for europe, it is very terse though and with very little extra information. Not
for the casual reader.
[54] Hatfield. A. W. How to Enjoy your Weeds. Frederick
Muller Ltd 1977 ISBN 0-584-10141-4
Interesting reading.
[74] Komarov. V. L. Flora of the USSR. Israel Program for
Scientific Translation 1968
An immense (25 or more large volumes) and not
yet completed translation of the Russian flora. Full of information on plant
uses and habitats but heavy going for casual readers.
[100] Polunin. O. Flowers of Europe - A Field Guide. Oxford
University Press 1969 ISBN 0192176218
An excellent and well illustrated
pocket guide for those with very large pockets. Also gives some details on plant
uses.
[108] International Bee Research Association. Garden Plants
Valuable to Bees. International Bee Research Association. 1981
The
title says it all.
[183] Facciola. S. Cornucopia - A Source Book of Edible
Plants. Kampong Publications 1990 ISBN 0-9628087-0-9
Excellent. Contains
a very wide range of conventional and unconventional food plants (including
tropical) and where they can be obtained (mainly N. American nurseries but also
research institutes and a lot of other nurseries from around the world.
[200] Huxley. A. The New RHS Dictionary of Gardening. 1992.
MacMillan Press 1992 ISBN 0-333-47494-5
Excellent and very comprehensive,
though it contains a number of silly mistakes. Readable yet also very detailed.
[238] Bown. D. Encyclopaedia of Herbs and their Uses. Dorling
Kindersley, London. 1995 ISBN 0-7513-020-31
A very well presented and
informative book on herbs from around the globe. Plenty in it for both the
casual reader and the serious student. Just one main quibble is the silly way of
having two separate entries for each plant.
[240] Chopra. R. N., Nayar. S. L. and Chopra. I. C. Glossary of
Indian Medicinal Plants (Including the Supplement). Council of Scientific
and Industrial Research, New Delhi. 1986
Very terse details of medicinal uses
of plants with a wide range of references and details of research into the
plants chemistry. Not for the casual reader.
[245] Genders. R. Scented Flora of the World. Robert Hale.
London. 1994 ISBN 0-7090-5440-8
An excellent, comprehensive book on scented
plants giving a few other plant uses and brief cultivation details. There are no
illustrations.
[254] Chevallier. A. The Encyclopedia of Medicinal Plants
Dorling Kindersley. London 1996 ISBN 9-780751-303148
An excellent guide to
over 500 of the more well known medicinal herbs from around the world.
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Mr. Ahmad Ibn Mader Sun Sep 26 18:01:03 2004
A very Good Plant, I'm going to start Growing it next year in my garden... The health benifits are really good.
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zekirjah kamberi (asteroidae_3@hotmail.com) Thu Mar 16 20:33:00 2006
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md. hafizul haque (seekinvestorbuyerseafoodbz@gmail.com) Sun Dec 3 11:37:55 2006
Dear Author, Assalamuaalaikum. If u hv any link with any investor, those r interested to invest in black seed oil production & marketing in Bangladesh, pls feel free to redirect them to my email address, also appreciated from my end. tks. hafiz marine biologist
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