ABSTRACT
The oil of Nigella sativa is widely used in the medical, food, and pharmaceutical industries due to the presence of thymoquinone (TQ). Seeds of N. sativa are traditionally consumed in the preparation of bakery products, as well. The properties of oil obtained from N. sativa are mostly related to the amount of TQ molecule. In this chapter, separation methods were compared for showing differences in the extraction efficiency and in the oil properties. The concentration of TQ obtained by supercritical CO2 extraction is much higher than one obtained by cold press, soxhlet extraction, and microwave extraction. As CO2 has low critical temperature, it is advised as a green solvent for the extraction of temperature sensitive molecules.
