Planta Med 2010; 76 - P153
DOI: 10.1055/s-0030-1264451

Composition of the volatiles and fixed oils of the seeds of Nigella species

K Baser 1, B Demirci 1, A Dönmez 2, Z Ugurlu 2
  • 1Anadolu University, Faculty of Pharmacy, 26470 Eskisehir, Turkey
  • 2Hacettepe University, Department of Biology, Beytepe, 06800 Ankara, Turkey

Nigella L. s.l. (Ranunculaceae) is represented in the world by 24 species comprising 31 taxa. In the flora of Turkey, there are 15 species and altogether 19 taxa [1–7]. As part of a project involving a revision of the genus Nigella we are investigating the chemical composition of Nigella seeds. In the course of the present work, microdistillation and the n-hexane extracted fixed oils of the seeds of the following Nigella taxa have been investigated by gas chromatography/mass spectrometry (GC/MS) and gas chromatography-flame ionization detector (GC-FID): N. arvensis L. subsp. arvensis, N. arvensis L. subsp. brevifolia Strid, N. arvensis L. var. glauca Boiss., N. arvensis L. var. involucrata Boiss., N. arvensis L. var. tauricola P.H. Davis, N. arvensis L. assyriaca (Boiss.) Boiss., N. ciliaris DC., N. damascena L., N. degenii Vierh. subsp. degenii, N. elata Boiss., N. lancifolia Hub-Mor., N. latisecta P.H. Davis, N. orientalis L., N. nigellastrum (L.) Willk., N. oxypetala Boiss., N. sativa L., N. segetalis Bieb., N. turcica Dönmez & Mutlu, N. unguicularis (Lam.) Spenner collected from Greece, Syria and Turkey. In general, mono- and sesquiterpenoids appeared to be the main constituents of the volatiles. In all the fixed oils, linoleic and oleic acids were the main fatty acids.

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2. Dönmez A.A. and Mutlu, B. (2004). A new species of Nigella L. (Ranunculaceae) from Turkey, The Linnean Society of London, Botanical Journal of the Linnean Society.

3. Mabberley DJ (2008). Nigella L. (Ranunculaceae), Mabberley's Plant-Book. A Portable Dictionary of Plants, Their Classification and Uses. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

4. Strid, A. (2002). Nigella L. Flora Hellenica, 2: 3–13.

5. Tamura 1993, Nigelleae in The Families and Genera of Vascular Plants (eds. Kubitzki and Bittrich), 2: 574.

6. Tutin, T.G and Akeroyd J.R., 1993. Nigella L., Flora of Europaea, 1: 251–253 (2nd ed.).

7. Zohary, M. 1983. The Genus Nigella (Ranunculaceae) – A Taxonomic revision, Pl. Syst. Evol. 142: 71–107.