Jeera nutritional value per 100g (cumin nutrition)

The table below shows the IFCT 2017 entries for cumin seeds and, for scale, two spice-shelf neighbours: coriander seeds and ajwain (carom). These are raw seeds, 100 g of each, far more than any dish uses, which is why the per-teaspoon numbers follow the table.

Read the cumin column first. Its energy of 305 kcal sits between coriander seeds at 269 kcal and ajwain at 358 kcal, and its main entries are: 22.62 g of carbohydrate, 30.35 g of fibre, 13.91 g of protein, 16.64 g of fat, 20.58 mg of iron and 878 mg of calcium per 100 g.

Per 100 g raw, edible portion. Composition: IFCT 2017 (ICMR-NIN). — means not reported. These are average values for the food; the label on a pack gives the values for that product.

Cumin seeds carry 305 kcal per 100 g, but no recipe ever sees 100 g of jeera. The measure that matters in the kitchen is the teaspoon: one teaspoon of cumin seeds (2.5 g) adds about 8 kcal, 0.6 g of carbohydrate, 0.8 g of fibre, 0.35 g of protein, 0.4 g of fat and 0.5 mg of iron. A cup of jeera water made the usual way, one teaspoon (2.5 g) soaked in a cup of water (240 ml) overnight or boiled in it, then strained, lands at about 8 kcal, because water adds none.

Each teaspoon figure is the 100 g value scaled down to 2.5 g. Two teaspoons, the amount the jeera aloo recipe crackles for a batch that serves four, double the teaspoon figures: about 15 kcal across the whole batch, or about 4 kcal a plate. The method for the drink is on the jeera water page.

Against its two closest spice-shelf neighbours, cumin seeds sit in the middle of the pack. Protein: cumin seeds carry 13.91 g per 100 g, about 30 percent more than coriander seeds at 10.66 g, while ajwain leads the three at 15.89 g, about 14 percent more than cumin. Fibre runs the other way: coriander seeds carry the most, 44.81 g per 100 g, about 48 percent more than cumin's 30.35 g, and cumin in turn carries about 47 percent more than ajwain at 20.58 g.

At teaspoon scale the gaps close fast, because one teaspoon of cumin gives 0.35 g of protein and 0.8 g of fibre, so the comparison is a way to read the seed's profile rather than a reason to swap one spice for another. What protein and fibre do inside the body is the cumin benefits page's question.

IFCT 2017 lists no glycemic index for cumin seeds, so no figure is given, and a glycemic load cannot be worked out without one. That missing entry matters less than it looks. A teaspoon of cumin carries 0.6 g of carbohydrate and about 8 kcal, and the seed is always eaten in pinches or teaspoons, never in bowls. A 2014 review in the International Journal of Molecular Sciences makes the same point about spices generally: eaten in small quantities and in combination with other foods, it is unclear what their true health benefit is.

The clinical trial record on cumin and blood sugar is laid out on the cumin for diabetes page.

The micronutrient figures are cumin's most quoted numbers. Per 100 g, cumin seeds carry 20.58 mg of iron, 878 mg of calcium, 442 mg of magnesium, 1886 mg of potassium, 125 mg of sodium, 4.29 mg of zinc and 27.79 mcg of folate; IFCT 2017 lists no vitamin C value for cumin seeds. Against its neighbours, cumin leads on iron, 20.58 mg against coriander seeds at 17.64 mg and ajwain at 13.65 mg, and beats coriander seeds on calcium, 878 mg against 718 mg, about 22 percent more, while ajwain's 1034 mg sits about 18 percent above cumin.

As always, the teaspoon is the honest serving: 0.5 mg of iron and 22 mg of calcium per teaspoon. Those amounts are small because the serving is small, which is the whole lesson of this page, read jeera's numbers at the size you actually eat it. The benefits and side effects page carries the numbers forward into what they mean.

Every figure above is per 100 g of raw seed; here is how the figures land in actual dishes. A tadka of two teaspoons (5 g) spreads about 15 kcal across the whole batch of a dal or sabzi. A cup of jeera water, one teaspoon in 240 ml of water, holds about 8 kcal. A pinch of ground cumin over a finished plate is a fraction of a teaspoon, so small that its figures vanish into the rounding.

That is the practical reading of jeera's nutritional value: the seed adds fibre, iron and flavour in amounts that count over weeks of cooking, not in a single mouthful. It is also why the seed belongs in the dishes that use it best, jeera rice and jeera aloo, and the full guide to the seed's names, uses and storage is on the cumin seeds page.

Why cumin seeds are good?

Because a teaspoon of jeera brings listed nutrients for almost no calories: about 8 kcal with 0.6 g of carbohydrate, 0.8 g of fibre, 0.5 mg of iron, 0.35 g of protein and 22 mg of calcium. Per 100 g the figures look bigger, 305 kcal, 13.91 g of protein, 20.58 mg of iron, but the teaspoon is the serving that is actually eaten. What those nutrients do in people is a separate question with a separate evidence base.

How many calories in cumin seeds?

Cumin seeds carry 305 kcal per 100 g, as listed in IFCT 2017. The kitchen serving is far smaller: one teaspoon (2.5 g) adds about 8 kcal, and a cup of jeera water made from one teaspoon lands at the same 8 kcal because water contributes none. Two teaspoons across a four-serving batch, as in jeera aloo, come to about 4 kcal a plate.

Is cumin and jeera the same?

Yes. Cumin is the English word and jeera the Hindi word for the same seed, Cuminum cyminum, and IFCT 2017 lists the two names under one entry. Every regional name, jira, jiru, jire, jeerakam, jeelakarra and the rest, is the same seed again, listed in full on the cumin names page.

How much jeera is in one teaspoon?

2.5 g. That is the standard teaspoon for cumin seeds, and every per-teaspoon figure above is the per-100 g value scaled to 2.5 g. Two teaspoons are 5 g, the amount the jeera aloo recipe crackles for a batch of four, so a recipe's jeera figures can always be read from the teaspoon column above.

Is jeera water good for health?

A cup of jeera water made the usual way, one teaspoon (2.5 g) of cumin seeds in a cup of water (240 ml), carries the teaspoon's nutrients: about 8 kcal, 0.6 g of carbohydrate, 0.8 g of fibre and 0.5 mg of iron, with nothing added unless you add it. Whether those small amounts change anything measurable in people is a question the numbers alone cannot answer; the method for the drink is on the jeera water page.