CHEMICAL COMPOSITION OF THE TUNISIAN NIGELLA SATIVA. NOTE I. PROFILE ON ESSENTIAL OIL

Nigella saliva L., Ranunculaceae Family, commonly named blackseed, is a spontaneous plant. Nigellae sativae semen was used for a long time in the Arabian and Romanian ethnopharmacological field for its tonic effect. The scientific basis for using this plant was confirmed by phytochemical studies. These studies represent the scientifical confirmation of the empirical use of this vegetal product. The main compounds from the lipophylic fraction are responsible for the pharmacological activity of the Nigellae sativae semen. The qualitative and quantitative analysis of the essential oil were performed using a gas-chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) method. The analysis of the Nigella saliva essential oils extracts allowed the identification of 30 compounds in considerable percentages, among them: alpha- pinene (13.75 %), limonene (2.55 %), p-cymene (43.58 %), carvacrol (2.53 %) and tymoquinone (1.65 %). The results show that the essential oils composition depends in a great extent on the used extraction technique, and this offers the possibility to choose the methods which could favour the isolation of certain compounds.