Abstract
Ingestion of black cumin seeds has wide variety of biological effects, implying that different processes in the body are influenced simultaneously To assess to what extent clinical laboratory serum values are affected, rabbits were fed diets containing different levels of whole black cumin seed and serum was collected at various intervals The base diet consisted of 60% lucerne and 40% sorghum To formulate the experimental diets either 10, 15 or 20% of the base diet was replaced by black cumin seed Body-weight gain was increased by the diets with 10 or 15% black cumin but not by the diet with 20% Dietary black cumin seed raised serum concentrations of total protein, albumin and globulin but the diet with 20% produced lower values than did the 10 and 15% inclusion levels Black cumin feeding increased serum urea and creatinine and lowered uric acid concentrations Serum glucose, total lipid and cholesterol concentrations were lowered by consumption of black cumin Black cumin seed in the diet did not affect the serum activities of alkaline phosphatase and glutamate pyruvate transaminase Serum sodium and potassium were not influenced by black cumin but serum calcium and phosphate concentrations were increased The major finding in this study with rabbits is that the highest dietary level of 20% versus either 10 or 15% black cumin seed lowered serum protein concentrations and diminished weight gain