Antioxidant Potential of Nigella sativa in Germination Stages

Nigella sativa is a medicinal herb and its seeds are used as an important spice and condiment. Seed germination is a complex process that involves the activation of specific enzymes at the appropriate times and regulation of their activity. Seed germination percentage might be related to the efficiency of free radical scavenging in dry seeds. Oxidative stress is induced by a wide range of environmental factors including heavy metals stress. Therefore, antioxidant resistance mechanisms may provide a strategy to enhance metal tolerance and processes underlying antioxidant responses to metal stress. Cd pollution is a growing environmental problem affecting human health and crop production.In the present monograph, the effects of Cd-generating antioxidative defense systems (i.e. superoxide dismutase, peroxidase and catalase) were studied in the germinating seeds of Nigella sativa grown in cadmium chloride solution under controlled environmental conditions.The expressions of antioxidant enzymes are relatively higher in germinated / sprouted seeds. Thus, this monograph strongly support that application of stress could be well used to promote plants' innate antioxidant defense potential.