Black seed oil

This confusion is not innocent: it allows products of less functional value to be sold under the halo of reputation of the real Nigella sativa. At Folk Oils, we leave no ambiguity. The seed that we press is Nigella sativa L., identified botanically, cultivated in the Gharb region of Morocco, and each batch of which is subjected to an analysis of the thymoquinone content, the chemical marker which distinguishes true nigella from its substitutes. If your current supplier is unable to provide you with this analytical assay, the question is worth asking.

More than 2,000 scientific studies published since 1960 have documented its properties: anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, immunomodulatory, antibacterial, antiproliferative. Thymoquinone is what formulators, therapists and informed consumers look for when asking for black seed oil. This is what Folk Oils delivers. The TQ concentration depends on three cumulative factors: the botanical authenticity of the seed, the growing and terroir conditions (soil, climate, agronomic practices), and the extraction method. Cold pressing preserves the thymoquinone intact. Solvent extraction or thermal distillation degrades it. These three parameters are under our direct control, from the plot to the press.

Falsification and substitution are commonplace: a significant portion of “black seed” or “nigella” oils contain another oil, diluted nigella, or species of the Nigella genus which are not Nigella sativa. Folk Oils removes this risk at the root. We buy the seed directly from producers we know by name. The seed enters our identified press and leaves with a certificate of analysis attesting to the presence and concentration of thymoquinone, which the traditional trading chain is structurally incapable of guaranteeing.