Characteristics of oils and nutrient contents of Nigella sativa Linn. and Trigonella foenum-graecum seeds

Abstract

The core objective of this research was to determine the oilcharacteristics and nutrient contents of Nigella sativa and Trigonellafoenum-graecum seeds. Characteristics of seed oils revealed higherdegree of unsaturation and as determined by gas liquid chromatography(GLC) reported herein the major unsaturated fatty acids were linoleicacid (52.6% in N. sativa and 42.5% in T. foenum-graecum), followed byoleic acid (23.5% in N. sativa and 20% in T. foenum-graecum), whilethe main saturated fatty acid was palmitic acid (16% in N. sativa and10.5% in T. foenum-graecum). Triacylglycerols and neutral lipids werefound to be most abounded components recorded to 78.4 and 93.2% for N.sativa and 84.8 and 93.2% for T. foenum-graecum, respectively. The seedoils, therefore, have potential for use as domestic and industrial oils.Compositional analysis revealed that both samples contained considerableamounts of protein (20% in N. sativa and 28% in T. foenum-graecum) andhigh amount of lipid (37%) in N. sativa seeds. The seeds are shown tobe rich sources of potassium, calcium and sodium and other elements.Nutrient information reported herein illustrates the benefits to publichealth for consumers of these plant seeds.