Assessment of Quinone Enriched Fraction in Nigella sativa Seed Extracts

In recent days, the thirst for the identification of the potential bioactive compounds from the natural sources like medicinal plants is on continuous demand. Among scientists and academicians, it has created many interdisciplinary platforms for research in establishing new drugs from the natural sources. According to many recent studies, Nigella sativa is believed to be the rich source of quinone, an effective bioactive compound with lots of medicinal values. The purpose of this study was to isolate and estimate the quinone in Nigella sativa seed extracts (aqueous and ethanol). Based on the qualitative and quantitative determination, the extracts were further focused for isolation of quinone from both aqueous and ethanolic  extracts of Nigella sativa. The isolated compound is identified by thin layer chromatography and purity is analyzed in High performance liquid chromatography. From the results we obtained, it was very clear that among the aqueous and ethanolic extracts of Nigella sativa, the ethanolic extract has been found with the highest quantity of quinine. This would be predicting that the ethanol extract of Nigella sativa may have good efficacy of pharmacological and therapeutic potentials like antidiabetic, anticancer, antimicrobial, anti-inflammatory properties when compared with the aqueous extract due to the presence of more quinone.