Nigella sativa
From Biocrawler, the free encyclopedia.
| Nigella sativa | ||||||||||||||
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| Nigella sativa L. |
Nigella sativa is an annual flowering plant, native to southwest Asia. It grows to 20-30 cm tall, with finely divided, linear (but not thread-like) leaves. The flowers are delicate, and usually coloured pale blue and white, with 5-10 petals. The fruit is a large and inflated capsule composed of 3-7 united follicles, each containing numerous seeds. The seed is used as a spice.
Nigella sativa seed is known variously as kalonji (Hindi), kezah קצח (Hebrew), habbah elbarakah, حبه البركه (literally seeds of blessing Arabic) or siyah daneh سیاهدانه (Persian). In English it is called fennel flower, black caraway, black cumin, nutmeg flower or Roman coriander. Other names used, sometimes misleadingly, are onion seed and black sesame (both of which are similar-looking but unrelated). It is also sometimes just referred to as nigella or black seeds. An old English name gith is now used for the corncockle.
Kalonji has a pungent bitter taste and a faint smell of strawberries. It is used primarily in candies and liquors. In herbal medicine, kalonji has hypertensive, carminative, and anthelminthic properties.
External links
- Kalonji - by Dr. M. Laiq Ali Khan (http://www.crescentlife.com/dietnutrition/kalonji.htm)
- Nigella sativa (http://www.uni-graz.at/~katzer/engl/Nige_sat.html)pl:Czarnuszka siewna
