The nutritional values vary among seeds from different regions, as they depend on the soil, water, and climate of the respective region. Therefore, the effects of the oil may vary. Today, in many countries where the climate is unsuitable for growing Nigella Sativa, attempts are being made to grow the plant on a large scale under artificial conditions to obtain seeds for sale to factories. The first question that a buyer of such a rare product should ask is therefore: "Which seeds were used to produce the oil?". However, this is not the only criterion to consider for the quality of the product. Further information on this can be found on the Quality page of our website.

Seeds and properly extracted black seed oil (according to reports from 2016) contain more than 100 active ingredients and about 50 catalysts of natural cell biosynthesis, and that is not all...

"There are still many components that have not yet been identified, and research on this plant is currently ongoing worldwide" (Zahoor et al., 2004).

Black seed oil contains the following fatty acids:

According to Dr. Axe, the creator of the famous American alternative medicine website, which cites information from the Egyptian Journal of Biochemistry & Molecular Biology, black seeds contain very important phytochemical components that make this product highly effective:

• Thymoquinone (TQ)
• Thymohydroquinone (THQ)
• Thymol

Here are some details about these phytochemical components:

• THYMOQUINONE - this substance is contained in 30-40% of the essential oils of Nigella Sativa seeds. This substance was first isolated in 1960 by Professor El-Dakhakhny.
• THYMOHYDROQUINONE - is another type of thymoquinone. It is the most powerful natural acetylcholinesterase inhibitor in the world. Thymohydroquinone has the main function of stopping enzyme activity. This allows the brain to retain a large amount of the neurotransmitter acetylcholine for longer.
• THYMOL - is an active and well-known ingredient that has medicinal properties, benefits, and useful qualities. Thymol is frequently used in medical practice and the pharmaceutical industry. There is even a medicine named "Thymol" - an anthelmintic, an antiseptic, a bactericide, and an anthelmintic. Other medicines are also based on it, such as dental elixirs and disinfectants.​

Now let us consider the chemical composition of black cumin seeds. Seeds from different countries have been tested and examined in various laboratories around the world since the early 1990s. There are many research results with different data, as we have already mentioned, because the nutrition of the seeds depends on their place of origin. This is because the most important factors influencing the development of the seeds are the soil, water, and climate of a particular region. In this case, we will compare seeds from Saudi Arabia, Syria, Yemen, India, Pakistan, China, India, Ethiopia, Egypt, Turkey, Iraq, and Sudan. We have drawn on analysis results determined according to the 1997 AOAC methods, and included research results from other countries in the Middle East for comparison.

"Pure Nigella Sativa seeds exhibited a richness and diversity in their biological structure. These seeds contain carbohydrates, proteins, amino acids, volatile and fixed oils" (Rajsekhar and Kuldeep, 2011).

Table of chemical constituents of seeds from different regions:

You can see a large discrepancy between the seed test data from the different regions of Africa, Asia, and the Mediterranean. This proves once again that the quality of the oil depends directly on the seeds. BioNatal openly shows you which seeds we use for oil production. In our 'Quality' section, you will learn which seeds are considered the best and which we use to produce the natural oil.

Important vitamins in black cumin:
(The table was created based on average research results from 2004)

"The biological examination of the constituents of Nigella Sativa has shown that it contains carotene, which is converted into vitamin A by the liver" (Nergiz and Otles, 1993).

An important component of natural Nigella seeds and oil is fiber. Unfortunately, there is no specific study that specifies the composition of this component in black seed oil, but these studies were conducted in 1996 using the Enzymatic-Gravimetric Assay, and the presence of the following components was detected:

• Total dietary fiber
• Soluble dietary fiber
• Insoluble dietary fiber

Fiber content of samples from different varieties of Nigella Sativa seeds:

Finally, we will present the results of the analyses of seeds from the same countries regarding their mineral content. This table shows even more clearly the large difference in the quality of black cumin seeds from different countries. The mineral content was determined in 1997 according to the AOAC methods, using the "Flame-AAS System". For the global comparison, we have also included research results from other Arabic sources, especially from Yemen.

Differences in the mineral content of black cumin from different countries:

Summary: The tables we have presented above, comparing black cumin from different countries, clearly show that quality can vary worldwide. The oil produced from black cumin seeds from different countries also has a different tone, color, and bitterness. Thanks to our manager's many years of experience in oil production in Egypt, BioNatal is today the only company in the USA that knows the differences between the seeds exactly and therefore only works with proven suppliers of raw materials from specific regions. In the 'Quality' section, you will learn about the quality of the Ethiopian black cumin that BioNatal works with. You will also see the analysis of our oil, which BioNatal makes no secret of, because we are sure that our product is the best and purest. Our customers should know everything about our products! To order genuine black cumin seed oil from the strongest Ethiopian seeds, please visit the BioNatal Online Shop.