Nigella sativa: Its Ethnobotany, Phytochemistry, and Pharmacology

Abstract

Black seed (Nigella sativa) plant belongs to the Ranunculaceae family native to the Middle East, India, and Pakistan and also the neighboring countries. It is an annual flowering plant. Several medicinal uses have been reported. This plant has a historical and religious background that emerges as a miracle. The holy books Quran and Bible mention this plant that it can cure most of the diseases. This medicinal plant is rich in bioactive compounds and is globally used for food purposes or traditional medicine. A database collection from like Science Direct, Medline, PubMed, Scopus, EBSCO, and SID. Numerous therapeutic effects were reported like antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, antihypertensive, anti-diabetic, rheumatoid, anti-arthritic, digestive disease, cardiac disease, anti-cancer, reproductive disease, CNS diseases, and others. Several constituents are present in the plant, but among these thymoquinone (TQ) is the most important; several types of research in vivo and in vitro confirmed the various pharmacological activities. This valuable plant is used for the development of a new formulation to cure several diseases.