Chemical Composition of Volatile Oils from Algerian Nigella sativa L. seeds

The chemical composition of the volatiles obtained from the fixed oils of Nigella settee L. seeds growing in Algeria was investigated by GC and GC/MS analysis. Two solvents were studied for extracting the oils, hexane and isopropanol. The composition of N. sativa seeds varieties having four location origins in Algeria, were determined. Alcohols and ketones formed the main proportion using the two solvents, respectively (hexane: 27.4-36.1%, isopropanol: 40.2-59.0%) and (hexane: 39.9-44.3%, isopropanol: 17.5-50.7%), among which thymoquinone and thymohydroquinone were the predominant antioxidant compounds. The monoterpene hydrocarbons constitute relatively the lower fraction compared to the precedent chemical families, particularly by using the isopropanol solvent.