Chemical constituents of Nigella sative (Black cumin)

Black cumin (Seeds of Nigella sativa L.) has been used as a food and spice and also prescribed in Egyptian folk medicine for the treatment of asthma, flatulence, polio, kidney stones, abdominal pain, etc [1]. In spite of a number reports on N. sativa seeds [1–3], we describe its detailed phytochemistry for the first time. As a result, more than 20 compounds including eight new ones were isolated from its methanolic extract. The isolates belong to glycosides and/or free analogs of terpenoid (mono-, sesqui-, di-, and tri-), phenolic, alkaloid, flavonoid and long chain compounds. Structures were elucidated by spectroscopic and chemicals methods. Acknowledgement: The work was supported by the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) (2 U01 FD 002071-07). References: [1] Morikawa T, et al. (2004) Org. Lett. 6: 869–872. [2] Morikawa T, et al. (2004) Chem. Pharm. Bull. 52: 493–497. [3] Taskin MK, et al. (2005) Turk. J. Chem. 29: 561–569.