Common Applications of Black Cumin Seed (Nigella sativa) Oil in Folk Medicine

Objectives: The seasonal plant Nigella Sativa (black cumin seed) has a broad range of medicinal effects. Black cumin seed oil (BCSO) has been found to have a range of advantageous effects as therapeutic or preventive therapy in varieties of diseases including hypertension, diabetes, obesity, and reproductive difficulties. Methods: The review collects potential medicinal applications and mechanisms for BCSO in the period between 1994 to 2022 from internationally accepted databases and scientific journals. Results: The oil also has been found to be a potent antioxidant and anti-inflammatory agent that renewed its interest as a low-risk dietary supplement. Additionally, it was shown that combinatorial therapy with other conventional chemotherapeutic medicines has a great synergistic effect allowing the reduction in the dosage of concurrently administered drugs while maintaining the optimal efficacy and minimizing or eliminating the global toxicity. Conclusion: The most prevalent substance of this volatile oil is thymoquinone (TQ), which is also the ingredient to which most of this herb's benefits are related. The current study shed light on the most valuable characteristics as well as traditional medicinal and biological principles of BCSO.