Nigella sativa (N. sativa) (Family Ranunculaceae) is a widely used medicinal plant throughout the world. It is very popular in various traditional systems of medicine like Unani and Tibb, Ayurveda and Siddha. Seeds and oil have a long history of folklore usage in various systems of medicines and food. The seeds of N. sativa have been widely used in the treatment of different diseases and ailments. In Islamic literature, it is considered as one of the greatest forms of healing medicine. N. sativa has got the place among the top ranked evidence based herbal medicines. The present article is an effort to provide a detailed survey of the literature on scientific researches of pharmacognostical characteristics, chemical composition and pharmacological activities of the seeds of this plant.     

Nigella sativa, Miracle herb, Ranunculaceae, Habat-ul-Sauda, Thymoquinone

Khare CP. Encyclopedia of Indian medicinal plants. NewYork: Springes-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg; 2004.

Sharma PC, Yelne MB, Dennis TJ. Database on medicinal plants used in Ayurveda. New Delhi: 2005. pp. 420–440.

Al-Bukhari MI. In: The collection of authentic sayings of prophet mohammad (peace be upon him), division 71 on medicine. 2nd ed. Al-Bukhari Sahi., editor. Ankara: Hilal Yayinlari; 1976.

Abel-Salam BK. Immunomodulatory effects of black seeds and garlic on alloxan-induced diabetes in albino rat. Allergol Immunopathol (Madr) 2012;40(6):336–340.

Khaled AAS. Gastroprotective effects of Nigella Sativa oil on the formation of stress gastritis in hypothyroidal rats. Int J Physiol Pathophysiol Pharmacol. 2009;1:143–149.

Assayed ME. Radioprotective effects of black seed (Nigella sativa) oil against hemopoietic damage and immunosuppression in gamma-irradiated rats. Immunopharmacol Immunotoxicol. 2010;32(2):284–296