Anti-hypercholesterolemic and anti-hyperglycaemic effects of conventional and supercritical extracts of black cumin (Nigella sativa)

Objective: To explore the hypoglycaemic and hypocholesterolemic potential of conventional and supercritical extracts of black cumin. Methods: Purposely, rat modelling was carried out for 2 months by designing three studies i.e. study I (normal rats), study II (hyperglycaemic rats) and study III (hypercholesterolemic rats). Each study was further divided into three groups based on diet i. e. control, functional diet (contained extract of black cumin prepared by using conventional solvent) and nutraceutical diet (contained extract of black cumin prepared by supercritical fluid extraction system). Results: During whole trial, an abating trend was observed in the level of serum cholesterol with maximum reduction (12.8%) in nutraceutical group of study III. Low density lipoprotein and triglyceride level was also lowered maximum in study III as 17.1% and 11.6%, respectively. Whereas, highest decline in glucose level was in nutraceutical group of study II as 11.2%. Conclusions: Inclusion of black cumin extracts in diet significantly lowers the occurrence of hyperglycaemia and hypercholesterolaemia. Furthermore, hypoglycaemic and hypocholesterolemic potential of nutraceutical diet is more prominent as compared to functional diet.