Cummin

Cummin, or CUMMIN (Cuminum), a genus of Umbelliferae, containing only one known species (C. cuminum), common in Egypt and the neighbouring countries, sometimes as an annual weed, but more frequently in cultivation, as also in southern Europe and India. It is referred to in Scripture (as in Matt. xxiii. 23). The fruit-lobes separate in the way characteristic of the order, and are thus popularly called seeds; their odour and properties resemble those of Caraway (q.v.), but are stronger, and therefore to some palates more pleasant. It is employed as a carminative flavouring in many parts of the world; but its strictly medicinal use (as in plasters) is now chiefly confined to veterinary practice. In Germany, it is often put into bread; in Holland, sometimes into cheese. It contains a peculiar volatile oil (Oil of Cummin). Cummin-seed is brought to Britain mostly from Sicily and Malta.—The fruit of Lagocaea cummoides, another umbelliferous plant, a native of the Levant, is similar in its qualities and uses to that of cummin. The Black Cummin of the ancients is sometimes identified as a species of Nigella (q.v.).