Skip to content
Best Quality
Black Seed Oil
Do you have a better price for imported black seed oil?
Do you try to find the best quality black seed oil?
Then answer the following seven questions to make sure that you buy a high-quality product:
- Do you know the origin of the seeds used to extract the oil offered to you?
- Do you know the pureness level of the seeds used?
- Do you know the harvesting year of those seeds?
- Do you know how many times seeds were pressed to extract the oil?
- Do you know the pressing temperature?
- Is it filtered or non-filtered oil?
Before purchasing a product, you may ask yourself this last question:
DO YOU WANT TO BUY REAL BLACK SEED OIL OR JUST OIL?
BioNatal stands behind our products and we are the only company in the world for the handmade items we offer. We answer all those questions and provide proof to our customers.
Here we will explain the difference in quality and show you the link to a full set of documents that prove the high quality of BioNatal’s black cumin seed oil from Ethiopian Nigella Sativa seeds:
The Huge Difference in the Nigella Sativa Seeds Place of Origin
BioNatal LLC is the only company in the world that compared collected Nigella Sativa seeds from the main 7 countries providers seeds in the huge quantities for black seed oil extraction. There are main factors and secondary factors that affect potency of the Nigella Sativa seeds on Earth.
Secondary factors: weather conditions, quality of soil and water.
Main factors: elevation of the land and distance to the equator.
Besides the 7 main grower countries, there are other countries with unsuitable conditions that grow Nigella Sativa flowers just for commercial purposes. Also, there are many companies worldwide who just resale imported black seed oil from another countries. Therefore, almost all black seed oils on the market have no mark about the seeds’ country of origin. Maybe the oil is extracted by all rules and conditions, but the seeds themselves are not rich in minerals, or components - even (and especially) if you can buy them real cheap.
Various research from 2004-2016 showed that the best seeds are grown in Ethiopia. However, not many factories worldwide deal with this African country due to its location and the high price for the seeds. To tap into this resource, BioNatal LLC was established specifically to bring the best and most rare products from specific regions to consumers in the USA. That’s why our main and top black seed oil extracted from real 100% Ethiopian seeds.
Ethiopian seeds are the most nutritious when compared to other Nigella Sativa seeds from other countries. Ethiopian black seeds are more expensive due to the high quality. In addition, it is very difficult to work with Ethiopian farmers and logistic in this African country. Many producers may claim they use Ethiopian seeds when they don’t. In order to prove this is true, they need to provide an Ethiopian Phytosanitary Certificate that may be provided to customers upon request. BioNatal uses the most expensive and greatest Ethiopian seeds and our sample of Ethiopian Phytosanitary Certificate is available for public view at our Analysis & Certificate page.
Biggest companies worldwide extract oils from seeds of different countries with different quality. Most popular for oil extracting seeds from Syrian and Indian seeds. These seeds definitely incomparable with Ethiopian. Different Nigella Sativa seeds from all main suppliers (Ethiopia, Egypt, Syria, India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Turkey) give a different kind of black seed oil. On the other side the Ethiopian seeds mostly used for the mixes when companies mix cheap seeds with Ethiopian to get stronger but cheaper black seed oil.
Difference of the Most Used Black Cumin Seeds Oils by Origin
| Country of Origin | Oil color | Strongness |
|---|---|---|
| Ethiopia | Very dark | Very strong and very bitter |
| Indian | Transparent brown | Regularly bitter |
| Egyptian | Transparent golden | Regular bitter with flower flavor |
| Turkish | Cloudy light brown | Lightly bitter |
| Bangladesh | Cloudy bronze | Regularly bitter |
| Syria | Cloudy light brown | Not bitter |
| Pakistan | Transparent light brown | Not bitter |
99% pureness rating
Pureness of the Nigella Sativa Seeds
A very important factor in the quality of the oil is the pureness of the pressed Nigella Sativa seeds. After harvesting the seeds from the flowers, batches can contain a huge amount of dry flowers petals, dry stems, mud, dust and even bugs. Seeds suppliers need to be careful in the selection process to maintain pureness of at least 95%. Many factories extract oils of lower seed selection 85-90% because they don’t want to spend money and time for selection.
BioNatal LLC imports seeds with a 99% pureness rating (Sortex selection method) and this fact is mentioned in the official Ethiopian Phytosanitary Certificate, which you can view on the Analysis & Certificates page. In addition, we also show our seeds on pictures and videos at our social networks (YouTube channel, Instagram, Facebook).
Always fresh seeds
Freshness of the Nigella Sativa seeds
Another very important factor that directly affects the quality of black seed oil is the harvest year. Before a new season begins in every country, the price of the previous season’s seeds goes down. That’s a big opportunity to produce cheap oil for many Middle East factories. Subsequently, a large number of oils on the market are extracted from old seeds. This is a very dangerous practice as, after the first year of storage, mold can quickly grow.
BioNatal always uses fresh raw material and on the Analysis & Certificates page we upload a sample of Ethiopian Phytosanitary Certificate that shows the freshness of the crop confirmed by Ethiopian Agricultural Authority.
only pressed once
Black Seed Oil Burning Materials
Black seeds contain 30-32% of oil inside. One press gets about 2/3 of oil from the seeds. However, most factories press seeds twice, thus reducing the price of the final product. Since the first cold press should be at a temperature of 115°F (+45°C), the seeds are burning by the time of the second press, which is why Benzo(a)pyrene and increased acid appear in twice pressed oils — degrading the quality.
The international acceptable standard presence of Benzo(a)pyrene in products is 2.0 μg/kg but all known twice-pressed oils have a level from 5.0 to 10.5 μg/kg. The acid level is also breaking the limit of 2.0 pH. This is a very common problem for most cheap black cumin oils on the market. The final customer can never know this fact because even analyses and quality certificates show only good nutrition because they never check for burning components and acid levels.
This is why BioNatal LLC now presents to customers US analyses where oils are specially tested for Benzo(a)pyrene and acid level as evidence that BioNatal black cumin oils are only pressed once. Analyses results can be found on the Analyses & Certificates page.
cold pressing techniques only
BioNatal One-Time Cold Press Method
Beside the double press the burning materials can appear even during one-time press method. The key is in the quality of the equipment. BioNatal LLC is using commercial equipment that is works on the low speed and gives us small quantity of the black seed oil but with the best temperature 77-98°F (+25-37°C).
On the other side most of black seed oils from the Middle East such as Indian black seed oil (kalonji oil) are producing on the industrial equipment that works on the edge of the cold-press 115°F (+45°C) and after 3 hours of work it starts heating the oil. The reason of such big rising of the friction temperature is that industrial equipment was produced for the soft seeds like sunflower and pumpkin but not very strong seeds like Nigella Sativa. Unfortunately, for the Middle East companies who supply with black cumin oil all the world the speed of work and quantity of extracted oil is the main target.
Finally, not many people realize and know that most of important minerals in the black seed oil is burning away when the friction temperature reaches 149°F (+65°C). This is why BioNatal LLC is operating on the equipment till the temperature rise up to 98°F (+37°C) for to deliver the best possible cold-press black seed oil in the world.
important minerals and components
Black Seed Oil Sediment
The filtering process does not affect the cost of the Nigella Sativa oil. Almost all black seed oil producers worldwide filter the oil after the extraction process because people are used to buying filtered oil and it’s allowed to deliver extracted product on the market in short terms. BioNatal LLC only offers non-filtered black seed oil since the rest of the seed part is considered sediment and contains additional important minerals and components.
non-filtered black seed oil
Powered Seed Sediment
BioNatal LLC does not filter the oil but cleans it, manually provide acceptable levels of sediment (5%) in each branded container. No other factory uses this method since this many stages semi-automatic process takes a few weeks or even full month and places a hold on sales. We are patient since our target is to provide the best quality of black cumin seed oil to our customers. This means we keep the oil only in 5 gallon-glass barrels (no plastic or aluminum containers) between temperatures of 62-72°F (+17-23°C).
The last stage
Bottling and Packing Material
The last stage which takes a place right after the sedimentation process is a bottling process. BioNatal LLC produces just enough oil to keep up with orders as they are coming in. We normally bottling ones a week and never keep the oil on the shelves in the final containers. We ship fresh oil (right after the sedimentation process) ONLY.
Frequently asked questions:
- Which is better Glass or Plastic (PETE)?
BioNatal’s black seed oil is always fresh and there is no difference in the 16oz Glass or PETE bottle. PETE bottling containers do not contain BPA or Phthalates. It is safe to keep black seed oil in PETE bottles if the bottle is not exposed to the sun or will be sitting in the shelf for quite some time.
It is up to the consumer; some people prefer glass.
