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ABSTRACT
Black seed (Nigella sativa) is an annual flowering plant from Ranunculaceae family, native to southwest Asia. This study assesses the antibacterial effect of black seed oil on some selected bacterial strains and to compare the effect of different extraction methods on the antibacterial properties of black seed oil. This plant has many food and medicinal uses. Nigella sativa seed essential oils was obtained by different extraction methods (soxhlet extraction, heat extraction and cold extraction) and were tested for their percentage yield was compared. The results showed that the essential oils tested differed markedly in their percentage yield and antimicrobial activities. The oils obtained by heat extraction had the highest essential oil percentage yield of 26.4%, whereas cold extraction gave the lowest percentage yield of 6.4%. Different Nigella sativa oil extracts from different extraction methods were tested for their antibacterial activity against different strains of multi-drug resistant Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Staphylococcus aureus by using disk diffusion method. Nigella sativa oil extract had significant antibacterial effects on the selected bacterial strains used in this study. The zones of inhibition of the antibacterial activity of Nigella sativa essential oil extract ranged from 10 - 25 mm for soxhlet extraction, 10- 20 mm for cold extraction method and 15-28 for heat extraction method. The use of different methods for extraction of N. sativa seeds had a significant influence on the antimicrobial effectiveness of the obtained oil. This finding is of crucial importance for future research in the possible application of N. sativa in pharmaceutical companies. According to our results, the oil extracts obtained by soxhlet extraction method was the best method for obtaining of N. sativa essential oil. However, conditions of soxhlet extraction process should be optimized for higher yield of the essential oil.
