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BEST QUALITY
Black cumin seed oil
Have you found a lower price for imported black seed oil?
Are you trying to find the best quality black seed oil?
Then answer the following seven questions to make sure you are buying a high-quality product:
- Do you know the origin of the seeds from which the oil offered to you was extracted?
- Do you know the purity of the seeds used?
- Do you know the year in which the seeds were harvested?
- Do you know how many times the seeds were pressed to extract the oil?
- Do you know the pressing temperature?
- Is it filtered or unfiltered oil?
Before you buy a product, you can ask yourself this final question: DO YOU WANT TO BUY GENUINE BLACK SEED OIL OR JUST OIL?
BioNatal stands behind its products, and we are the only company in the world that offers handmade products. We answer all these questions and provide our customers with proof.
Here we explain the differences in quality and provide a link to documents demonstrating the high quality of BioNatal’s black seed oil made from Ethiopian Nigella sativa seeds:
The decisive difference in the place of origin of the Nigella sativa seeds
BioNatal LLC is the only company in the world that has compared Nigella sativa seeds collected from the seven major countries that supply seeds in large quantities for black seed oil extraction. Both primary and secondary factors affect the properties of Nigella sativa seeds.
Ethiopian seeds are the most nutritious compared to other Nigella Sativa seeds from other countries. Ethiopian black cumin seeds are more expensive due to their high quality. Furthermore, it is very difficult to work with the Ethiopian farmers and the logistics in this African country. Many producers claim that they use Ethiopian seeds, although this is not the case. To prove this, they must provide an Ethiopian phytosanitary certificate, which can be made available to customers upon request. BioNatal uses the most expensive and best Ethiopian seeds, and our Ethiopian phytosanitary certificate is publicly viewable on our Analysis & Certificate page.
The largest companies worldwide extract oils from seeds from various countries with varying quality. Seeds from Syria and India are the most popular for oil extraction. These seeds are not qualitatively comparable to the Ethiopian ones. Different Nigella Sativa seeds from all major suppliers (Ethiopia, Egypt, Syria, India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Turkey) result in different types of black cumin oil. Furthermore, Ethiopian seeds are mostly used for blends when companies mix cheap seeds with Ethiopian ones to obtain a stronger, but cheaper black cumin oil.
Differences between the most commonly used black seed oils by origin
| Country of origin | Oil color | Strength |
|---|---|---|
| Ethiopia | Very dark | Very strong and very bitter |
| India | Clear brown | Moderately bitter |
| Egypt | Clear golden | Moderately bitter with a floral taste |
| Turkey | Cloudy light brown | Slightly bitter |
| Bangladesh | Cloudy bronze | Moderately bitter |
| Syria | Cloudy light brown | Not bitter |
| Pakistan | Clear light brown | Not bitter |
99% PURITY
Purity of the Nigella sativa seeds
A very important factor for the quality of the oil is the purity of the pressed Nigella sativa seeds. After harvesting the seeds, the containers may contain a large amount of dry petals, dry stems, mud, dust, and even pests. Seed suppliers must proceed carefully when selecting the seeds to ensure a purity of at least 95%. Many factories extract oil using seeds with a lower selection purity of 85-90% because they do not want to spend any money or time on the selection process.
BioNatal LLC imports seeds with a purity level of 99% (Sortex selection method), which is also mentioned in the official Ethiopian Phytosanitary Certificate, which you can view on the 'Analysis & Certificates' page. In addition, we also show our seeds in pictures and videos on our social networks (YouTube channel, Instagram, Facebook).
ALWAYS FRESH SEEDS
The freshness of the Nigella sativa seeds
Another very important factor that directly affects the quality of black seed oil is the harvest year. Before a new harvest season begins, the price of seeds from the previous season drops. This presents a major opportunity for many factories in the Middle East to produce cheap oil. As a result, a large number of oils on the market are extracted from old seeds. This is a rather risky practice, as mold can quickly develop after the first year of storage.
BioNatal always uses fresh raw material, and on the 'Analysis & Certificates' page, we have uploaded a sample of the Ethiopian Phytosanitary Certificate, which confirms the freshness of the harvest and was issued by the Ethiopian agricultural authority.
PRESSED ONLY ONCE
Burnt material in black seed oil
Black cumin seeds contain 30-32% oil inside. A press extracts about 2/3 of the oil from the seeds. However, most factories press the seeds twice, which reduces the price of the final product. Since the first cold pressing should take place at a temperature of +45°C, the seeds are already burnt by the time of the second pressing, which is why benzo(a)pyrene and increased acidity are found in double-pressed oils and impair the quality.
The internationally accepted standard value for benzo(a)pyrene in products is 2.0 μg/kg, but all known double-pressed oils show a value of 5.0 to 10.5 μg/kg. The acidity level also exceeds the limit value of 2.0 pH. This is a very common problem with most cheap black cumin oils on the market. The end consumer cannot trace this fact, as even analyses and quality certificates only show good nutritional values, as they are not tested for burnt components and acidity levels.
Therefore, BioNatal LLC now presents its customers with US analyses, in which the oils are specifically tested for benzo(a)pyrene and acidity levels, to demonstrate that BioNatal black cumin oils are only pressed once. The results of the analyses can be viewed on the 'Analyses & Certificates' page.
COLD-PRESSED ONLY
BioNatal single-step cold-pressing process
Burnt substances can occur not only during double pressing but also during single pressing. The key lies in the quality of the equipment. BioNatal LLC uses commercial equipment that operates at a low speed and provides us with a small amount of black seed oil, but at the best temperature of +25–37°C.
On the other hand, most black seed oils from the Middle East, such as Indian black seed oil (Kalandashi oil), are produced in industrial facilities that operate at the upper limit of cold pressing at +45°C and begin to heat the oil after 3 hours of operation. The reason for this sharp increase in friction temperature is that industrial facilities were designed for softer seeds such as sunflower and pumpkin seeds, not for hard seeds such as Nigella sativa. Unfortunately, for the companies in the Middle East that supply black seed oil worldwide, the speed of production and the quantity of oil extracted are the main objectives.
It is little known that most of the essential minerals in black seed oil are destroyed when the temperature reaches +65°C. For this reason, BioNatal LLC uses presses that operate at a temperature of +37°C to deliver the best possible cold-pressed black seed oil in the world.
IMPORTANT MINERALS AND COMPONENTS
Black seed oil sediment
The filtration process has no impact on the cost of Nigella sativa oil. Almost all black seed oil manufacturers worldwide filter the oil after the extraction process, as consumers are accustomed to buying filtered oil and it allows the extracted product to be brought to market quickly. BioNatal LLC offers only unfiltered black seed oil because the remaining part of the seed is considered sediment and contains additional important minerals and nutrients.
UNFILTERED BLACK CUMIN OIL
Seed sediment
BioNatal LLC does not filter the oil, but cleans it manually to ensure a perfect sediment content (5%) in every container. No other factory uses this method, as this multi-stage semi-automatic process takes several weeks or even a whole month and slows down sales. We take this time because our goal is to offer our customers the best quality black seed oil. This means that we only store the oil in 18-liter glass barrels (no plastic or aluminum containers) at temperatures of +17-23°C.
THE FINAL STAGE
Bottling and Packaging Materials
The final phase, which takes place directly after the sedimentation process, is bottling. BioNatal LLC produces just enough oil to keep up with incoming orders. We usually bottle once a week and never leave the oil in the finished containers on the shelf. We only ship fresh oil
Frequently Asked Questions:
- Which is better: glass or plastic?
BioNatal black seed oil is always fresh and there is no difference between the 450-gram glass or plastic bottle. Plastic containers contain neither BPA nor phthalates. It is safe to store black seed oil in plastic bottles as long as the bottle is not exposed to the sun or left on the shelf for a long time.
It is up to the consumer; some people prefer glass.
