A reliable and simplified quantitative high performance thin-layer chromatography (HPTLC) method for the determination of the bioactive constituent of the commercially available black seed and black seed oil using a scanning densitometer is described. The identification of thymoquinone spot obtained from 80% aq. MeOH extract of the seed is confirmed by Nuclear Magnetic Spectroscopy (NMR). The solvent system consisted of hexane and dichloromethane (1:1) were used and all the spot visualised and quantitated at 254 nm. The thymoquinone content of freshly pressed black seed oil was 1.3%, while that of the seed was 1%. Furthermore UV-Vis measurement is significantly used for swift relative comparison of thymoquinone levels in black seed oils and to follow the transformation of thymoquinone when the oil is exposed to sunlight.
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Belete et al. (2014) studied this question.