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Cuminum, Cumin

Sweta Jiraka (Ayurveda)
Zeera Safaid (Unani)
Zi ra dkar po  ཟི་ར་དཀར་པོ  (Tibetan)
Della Materia Medicinale, Andrea Valuassori, 1562
Krauterbuch, Lonitzer, 1578
Botanical name:
Cuminum cyminum
Four Kinds were described in Unani:
  1. Farsi, or Persian
  2. Nabti, Nabathean
  3. Kirmani, Black Cumin
  4. Shami, or Syrian

Parts used:
Seed

Temperature & Taste:
Very Warm, dry. Pungent
attenuates, digests, dissolves, discusses Wind

Classifications:
2C INCIDERS.    2D ATTENUATERS OF CONGEALED BLOOD.    2H. CARMINATIVE.    2Q. ANODYNE
3C. ALEXIPHARMIC.    3F. LITHONTRIPTIC.    3H. LACTAGOGUE.    4e. STOMACHIC.    4f. SPLENETIC.    4g. HEPATIC

Uses:
1. Warms the Stomach, moves Qi:
-Wind, Colic, Bloating, Tympanites (Edema with wind)
-Food Stagnation
-Malabsorption
-used to aid slimming

2. Warms the Lungs, clears Phlegm, stops Cough:
-common Cold, hoarseness
-Cough, Asthma, shortness of Breath, Pleurisy (Electuary with Honey or boiled in wine with Figs)

3. Clears Wind-Cold-Phlegm, benefits the Head:
-Headache, Migraine, Dizziness, Vertigo etc. (Salmon)
-Insomnia, Amnesia (taken with Honey)

4. Warms the Kidney, Clears Damp, Promotes Urine:
-Edema, Renal Colic, urinary complaints including Incontinence
-Arthritis, Gout
-Gonorrhea
-the oil has been given for Stones
-Regarded as Aphrodisiac

5. Benefits in Pregnancy, Promotes Milk:
-taken throughout Pregnancy to aid Fetal development, relieve Morning Sickness and promote easier Childbirth (Ayurveda)
-promotes Milk postpartum
-it has developed a reputation to increase Breast size

6. Moves the Blood, Promotes Menstruation:
-Amenorrhea, Dysmennorhea
-large doses promote Miscarriage
-also for Blood stagnation, Bruising

7. Resists Poison:
-Slow, Persistent Fevers (Ayurveda)
-Snake bite (decocted in wine)
-topically for Scorpion bites (Ayurveda)

8. Externally:
-a plaster (made with wine and Barley meal) is applied to Stitches and pains of the Sides; also to the abdomen for Colic.
-applied topically to joint pain, as well as swellings of the Joints, Breast or Genitals
-applied as a paste to Boils and Scorpion stings in Ayurveda.
-Boiled in Wine and made into a poultice for Swellings of the Testicles caused by Wind or Water.
-Unani texts state it 'destroys' pterygium


DOSE:
Of the Powder: 500mg–3 grams; In Decoction: 2–6 grams

PREPARATION:
Cumin seed is sometimes roasted in India. This lessens its heat and pungency, and is often eaten after a meal to help digestion.

CORRECTIVE
Tragacanth (Unani)

SUBSTITUTES:
1. Ammi seed
2. Carum copticum
3. Nigella seed

Main Combinations:
Digestion:
1. Indigestion, Colic, Food Stagnation, Cumin with Long Pepper, Rue and Saltpeter (as in Lesser Cumin Composition of Galen)
2. Indigestion, Bloating, Colic, Bowel Pain:
i. Cumin with Fennel, Coriander, Cardamon
ii. Cumin with Cinnamon, Clove, Galangal, Calamint, Ginger, Black Pepper, Cardamon (as in Powder of Cumin Greater of Nicholas)
iii. Cumin with Ginger, Cinnamon, Clove, Aloeswood, Galangal, Long Pepper, Cardamon (as in Electuary of Cumin of Mesue)
iv. Cumin with Aniseed, Fennel seed, Caraway, Camomile, Raisin (as in Carminative Decoction)
3. Loss of Appetite, Cumin with Ammi, Cardamon, Mastic (as in Powder for Loss of Appetite of Nicholas)
4. Hiccup, Cumin with Long Pepper in Honey (Ayurveda)
5. Stomach Pain, Cumin with Camomile, Rue, Marjoram, Pennyroyal, Rosemary, Aniseed, Fennel seed (as in Decoction for Stomach Pain)

Lungs:
6. Cough, Asthma, shortness of Breath, Pleurisy, Cumin with Figs, decocted in wine (Gerard)
7. Cough with Cold Phlegm, Cumin, Long Pepper, Licorice (Ayurveda)
8. Hoarseness and Loss of Voice:
i. Cumin roasted with Mustard seed, Black Pepper, Calamint, Pyrethrum (as in Electuary to Clarify the Voice of Galen)
ii. Cumin with Tumeric, Calamus, Costus, Long Pepper, Ginger, Licorice, Rock Salt (as in Kalya Avaleha of Ayurveda)

Other:
9. Renal Colic, Cumin with Caraway and Black Salt (Ayurveda)
10. Gout, Cumin with Caraway and Coriander seed (Ayurveda)
11. Vertigo:
i. Cumin with Coriander, Calamus, Marjoram, Aniseed, Fennel seed (as in Sugar for Vertigo of Gabelhover)
ii. Cumin with Nutmeg, Coriander seed, Mistletoe, Peony seed, Galangal, Calamus, Betony (as in Powder of Nutmeg for Vertigo)
12. Aphrodisiac, Cumin with Black Pepper and Honey (Unani)
13. Menstrual pain, Cumin with fresh Ginger and Valerian (Ayurveda)
14. To aid Fetal development, relieves Morning Sickness and promote easier Childbirth, decoct Cumin in Milk and add Honey. (Ayurveda)
15. To promote Milk, Cumin with Ammi, Fennel, Shatavari. (Ayurveda)

Externally:
16. Bruising, Congealed Blood, Cumin, Salt (1 oz. each), Honey (4 oz.) Beat the Cumin and Salt then heat with the Honey and apply warm. (The Secrets of Alexis, 1615)
17. Abscess of the Testicles, Cumin powder, Raisin pulp, Bean meal mixed with Honey and applied. (The Secrets of Alexis, 1615)

Major Formula
Carminative Decoction
Carminative Decoction (Augustana)
Lesser Cumin Composition (Galen)
Powder of Cumin Greater (Diacyminum) (Nicholas)
Electuary of Cumin (Diacyminum) (Mesue)
Powder of Cinnamon Compound (Mesue)
Powder for Loss of Appetite (Nicholas)
Electuary for Gastric Pain

Cautions:
1. Avoid large doses during Pregnancy.
2. Not used in Hot or Bilious constitutions

Main Preparations used:
Distilled Water of the Seeds, Distilled Oil, Species Diacuminum