Biochemical composition of seeds Nigella sativa L., grown in the conditions of Belarus

Abstract

It was revealed that the main component of the studied samples composition of the essential oil of Nigella is monoterpene p-cymene, the content of which is ~ 60 %. According to the results of the study of the fatty acid composition of the seed lipids of the studied samples, the prevalence of omega-6 (linoleic) and omega-9 (oleic) unsaturated fatty acids was found (75.11–76.91 % of the total fatty acid content). Samples of NP-13/2 (sum of omega-acids 77.56 %, linoleic acid content – 60.16 %) and NP-4 (sum of omega-acids 77.55 %, oleic acid content – 18.12 %) are promising. In the process of studying the amino acid composition in seed extracts, four essential (leucine, methionine, valine, threonine) and four essential (arginine, proline, serine, glycine) amino acids were identified. A promising sample was NP-13/4 (the sum of amino acids is 62.23 %, the arginine content is 17.56 mg/kg, the leucine is 4.95 mg/kg, and threonine is 4.12 mg/kg). The obtained data testify to the value of using not only ecologically and geographically distant forms, but also samples of hybrid origin of nigella sown, selected and adapted to the conditions of Belarus, as source material in breeding work when creating varieties of medicinal purpose.

Mutation types and frequency in Nigella damascena L. in the М2 and M3 generation, using ethyl methanesulfonate, nitrosomethylurea and a new derivative of dimethylsulfate, DG-2

“…They were already cultivated by the ancient Greeks and Romans and liked for the sweet-burning taste of their oily seeds. From a medical point of view, nigella seeds are an important source of provitamins of groups A, B, P, they contain about 40 % fatty oil, 0.5-1.5 % essential oil, 0.3 % damascenine alkaloid, vitamin E, lipase enzyme, as well as acetylcholines, catechins, cytokinins, calcium, iron, copper, zinc, phosphorus (Isakova et al 2015;Khazdair et al, 2021) The seeds of N. damascena in particular contain fatty acids (linoleic, oleic, palmitic acid) (Telci et al, 2014), proteins (e.g. albumin, gluten, globulin), and other biologically active compounds, such as β-elemene and its precursor, germacrene A (Kraker et al, 1998), which is valued for anti-microbial activity.…”