Introduction: Nigella sativa seeds belongs to the plant family of plantain family Nigella sativa seeds, the plant is native to most of Europe and northern and central Asia, but has widely naturalized elsewhere in the world. The aim of this study was to overview pharmacological properties of Nigella sativa seeds. Methods: This review article was carried out by searching studies in PubMed, Medline, Web of Science, and IranMedex databases. The initial search strategy identified about 132 references. In this study, 76 studies was accepted for further screening and met all our inclusion criteria [in English, full text, therapeutic effects of Nigella sativa seeds and dated mainly from the year 1991 to 2016.The search terms were “Nigella sativa”, “therapeutic properties”, “pharmacological effects”. Result: It is commonly used for its Chemotherapeutic effect, Antioxidant effect, Antitumoral effect ,Biological effect ,Antiviral and Immunoenhancing effect ,Mechanical effect Antimicrobial effect, Hematopoietic effect, Anti-cancer effect, Antioxidant effect, wound healing, Neutrophil Respiratory Burst Conclusion: Although the results from this review are quite promising for the use of Nigella sativa seeds as a multi-purpose medicinal agent, several limitations currently exist in the current literature. While Nigella sativa seeds has been utilized successfully in Ayurvedic medicine for centuries, more clinical trials should be conducted to support its therapeutic use.
