Nigella sativa can reduce Potassium bromate induced oxidative stress

NIGELLA SATIVA (black cumin). Nigella sativa is a plant that grows in south Asia, grows between 20 to 30 cm and is rich in Thymoquinone, a phytochemical compound that has also anti-oxidant properties. Thymoquinone has also been proven to be effective against heart, liver and kidney damage in animal studies, it even exerted anti-cancer effects in some studies on Pancreatic cancer.

This article however concentrates on another important property exerted by this plant, its ability to reduce Potassium bromate induced oxidative stress, something about which we may be concerned, specially if you live in the United States, where this flour improver is still legal. Image left: TANAKA Juuyoh (田中十洋)

NIGELLA SATIVA

Family: Ranunculaceae
Genus: Nigella
Common name: Fennel flower, nutmeg flower, Nigella indica, Nigella truncata, Roman coriander blackseed, black caraway [1], कलौंजी (Hindu), kalonji, Siyah daana (Persian), Al-Habba Al-Sauda or AlHabba Al-Barakah (Arabic), Kalvanji (Urdu).

REDUCING OXIDATIVE STRESS CAUSED BY POTASSIUM BROMATE

In a laboratory test, Nigella sativa (Black cumin), was tested in rats for a period of 56 days [3]. The rats, that were artificially induced oxidative stress by injecting them potassium bromate, a flour improver used under the reference E924 banned in the EU, Canada, Nigeria, Brazil, Peru, China, and Sri Lanka [4] due to its potential carcinogenic effects but still legal in the USA, where it is still in use.

Oxidative stress increased the activities of cardiac and liver enzymes. However, supplementation of Black cumin fixed oil and its essential oil was effective in reducing the abnormal values of enzymes, including liver enzymes that were also reduced, with which it can be assumed that black cumin essential oil is more effective in reducing the extent of potassium bromate induced multiple organ toxicity, reducing the extent of myocardial and liver necrosis [3].

OTHER PROPERTIES OF NIGELLA SATIVA

In spite the above-mentioned properties are quite sufficient to justify further investigations on Nigella sativa, recent studies indicate that black cumin (Nigella sativa) has other beneficial properties, among which we can mention its cardio-protective, anti-cancer, anti-diabetic, antioxidant, and immune-modulatory properties [5].

SIDE EFFECTS AND PRECAUTIONS

REFERENCES:

[1] Anti-metastasis effect of thymoquinone on human pancreatic cancer.
Wu ZH, Chen Z, Shen Y, Huang LL, Jiang P.
Second Affiliated Hospital of Wenzhou Medical College, Wenzhou 325027, China.

[2] Wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nigella_sativa).

[3] Supplementation of Nigella sativa fixed and essential oil mediates potassium bromate induced oxidative stress and multiple organ toxicity.
Sultan MT, Butt MS, Ahmad RS, Pasha I, Ahmad AN, Qayyum MM.
Department of Food Sciences, Bahauddin Zakariya University, Multan.

[4] Wikipedia, Potasium bromate (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Potassium_bromate)

[5] Mitigation of Obesity-Promoted Diseases by Nigella sativa and Thymoquinone.
Vanamala J, Kester AC, Heuberger AL, Reddivari L.
Department of Food Science and Human Nutrition, Colorado State University, 1571 Campus Mail, 206 Gifford Building, Fort Collins, CO, 80523, USA.

[6] Plant names in other languages: Porcher Michel H. et al. 1995 - 2020, Sorting Origanum Names. Multilingual Multiscript Plant Name Database - A Work in Progress. Institute of Land & Food Resources. The University of Melbourne. Australia.   < http://www.plantnames.unimelb.edu.au/Sorting/Origanum.html > (2007).