Witnessed by: Ayurveda · Western · Unani
Black cumin (Nigella sativa), of the Ranunculaceae family. Slender annual with finely divided leaves and pale blue flowers ripening to horned capsules; native range: Western Asia and the Mediterranean, long cultivated across the Middle East and India. Globally recognized as kalajaji / upakunchika / krishnajiraka in Sanskrit, kalonji in Hindi, habbat al-barakah / shonez (شونيز) in Arabic, and black cumin, black seed, nigella in English. The part used is seed. Small, angular, matte-black seeds with a warm, peppery, faintly bitter aroma between oregano and cumin.
In this cross-tradition database, we analyze how this substance operates across world medicine systems — tracking its traditional tastes, temperatures, tissue affinities, post-digestive effects, and planetary correspondences across Ayurveda, Unani, and Western herbalism.
BLACK CUMIN
IDENTITY
Name
- Common
- Black cumin
- Scientific name
- Nigella sativa L.
- Family
- Ranunculaceae
Form
- Part used
- seed
PROPERTIES
Nature
Taste
how the plant declares itself on the tongue
- Ayurveda
- pungent (katu) · bitter (tikta)
- Western
- pungent · bitter · aromatic
- Unani
- pungent · bitter · aromatic
Temperature
- Ayurveda
- heating (ushna)
- Western
- warm
- Unani
- hot & dry (3rd degree)
Affinity
where in the body it travels
Organs / channels
- Western
- digestion · lungs · immune
- Unani
- stomach · liver · lungs
PRACTICE
Virtue
Actions
- Ayurveda
- dipana-pachana (kindles digestion), kaphavatahara, krimighna (anthelmintic), stanyajanana (galactagogue), artavajanana (emmenagogue)
- Western
- carminative, digestive, galactagogue, anthelmintic, expectorant; (modern) immunomodulator and antiasthmatic through thymoquinone
- Unani
- muharrik (stimulant), mufatteh-e-sudad (deobstruent), kaasir-e-riyah (carminative), mudir (emmenagogue and diuretic); a chief prophetic remedy
Cautions
Contraindications: large medicinal doses in pregnancy (emmenagogue)
Toxicity: the concentrated oil in excess may irritate; very safe as a culinary spice
Interactions
- Western
- antidiabetic agents: additive blood-sugar lowering · antihypertensives: additive blood-pressure lowering · immunosuppressants: thymoquinone immunostimulation may oppose immunosuppressive therapy
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