Fatty Acid Profile and Antioxidant Activity of Nigella Sativa Fatty Oil

The chemical composition of Nigella sativa L. (black cumin) fatty oil was studied by gas chromatography with mass-selective detection in a search for promising antioxidant agents among edible vegetable oils with high contents of unsaturated fatty acids. Commercial products (Egypt, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia) had fatty-acid profiles dominated by essential fatty acids and were confirmed to contain essential oils. Considering these results, the antioxidant activities of the fatty-oil samples were compared using chemiluminescence. Black cumin fatty oil was proven to be capable of suppressing generation of reactive oxygen species and lipid peroxidation in model systems. The antioxidant properties were most pronounced at a concentration of 5 mg/mL for a system simulating generation of reactive oxygen species and 1 mg/mL for a system simulating lipid peroxidation.