| Summary: | Medicinal and aromatic plants and their refined
natural products have gained global attraction for their therapeutic potential against many human
diseases.
Nigella sativa is a medicinally
important plant, commonly known as
Black cumin or Black seed is a dicotyledon plant of the Ranunculaceae family. It is in common use for a
longer
time in history as preservative and spice and has also been extensively utilized by different
communities around the globe. Black cumin has been an eminent component of
traditional medicine systems like Unani and Tibb, Ayurveda and Siddha. Its biological
activities include antidiarrheal, analgesic, antibacterial, liver tonic,
diurectic, digestive agent and to treat several skin disorders. Furthermore, the
therapeutic properties also include antidiabetic, anticancer, antihypertensive,
anti-inflammatory, hepatoprotective, spasmolytic and bronchodialator. This is
all because of its miraculous healing power that it has been ranked as top
ranked, among evidence based herbal medicines. The literature
supports that the pharmacological activities of Nigella sativa are mainly because of
the essential oil and its constituents particularly thymoquinone. The current
review is an attempt to present a detailed literature survey regarding chemical
composition, phytochemistry, therapeutic potential
and biotechnological approaches to enhance the medicinal potential of this valuable plant.
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