Triquetra Black Seed Oil: Why 5% and 2.67% Aren't the Same Thing
If you have been comparing black seed oils on thymoquinone content, Triquetra black seed oil will have caught your eye. Its TQ-Advanced range states 5% thymoquinone, and its TQ-Advanced 4X extract capsules state 20% — figures that make the low single-digit percentages quoted by most cold-pressed oils look modest. Sidr & Stone's own oil is independently verified at 2.67%. On the face of it that looks like a straightforward loss. It isn't, because the two products are not the same category of thing: Triquetra's figure comes from a supercritical CO2 concentrate, and ours from a whole, unrefined pressed oil. This article explains what that difference actually means, and which one you probably want.
For our own oil, see our cold-pressed Ethiopian black seed oil.
The Short Answer
- Triquetra Health's TQ-Advanced black seed oil is standardised to 5% thymoquinone and produced by supercritical CO2 extraction; its TQ-Advanced 4X extract capsules state 20%.
- Those figures are real and Triquetra is transparent about how they are reached — the product is described on its own site as a 15:1 concentrate from Nigella sativa extract, not as a plain pressed oil.
- A whole cold-pressed black seed oil sits in the low single-digit percentage range. That is not a weaker version of a concentrate; it is a different product.
- Sidr & Stone's black seed oil contains 2.67% naturally occurring thymoquinone, independently verified per batch by Analytice, an ISO-accredited French laboratory.
- The useful question is not which number is bigger. It is whether you want a concentrated extract standardised to a target, or the seed's own oil measured as it is.
- Standardised to a specification and verified per batch are different assurances. One says what the product is formulated to contain; the other says what this batch was tested and found to contain.
What Triquetra Actually Makes
Triquetra Health is a US supplement brand whose black seed range is built around its TQ-Advanced formulation. The company states that TQ-Advanced is standardised to 5% thymoquinone and produced using a patented supercritical CO2 extraction process — a cold, solvent-free method — and describes the material as a 15:1 concentrate derived from Nigella sativa extract. It is sold as a liquid and as softgels, with a separate TQ-Advanced 4X extract capsule standardised to 20% thymoquinone.
Two things are worth saying plainly. First, supercritical CO2 extraction is a genuinely good process — it runs cold, uses no chemical solvent, and is generally regarded as a premium extraction method. Nothing about it damages thymoquinone. Second, Triquetra does not hide what the product is. The words extract and concentrate are on its own pages. That transparency is a real strength and we are not going to talk around it.
Why 5% and 2.67% Are Not Competing on the Same Axis
A percentage only means something once you know what it is a percentage of. In a whole cold-pressed oil, thymoquinone is whatever the seed produced, dissolved in the oil's own fatty acids. In a concentrate, material has been extracted and reduced until the thymoquinone fraction hits a target. A 15:1 concentrate is, by definition, not the same substance as the oil it came from.
| Product | What it is | Thymoquinone | Method | How the figure is assured |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sidr & Stone | Whole unrefined pressed oil | 2.67%, naturally occurring | Cold-pressed below 40°C | Independently verified per batch (Analytice, ISO-accredited) |
| Triquetra TQ-Advanced (oil, softgels) | 15:1 concentrate from Nigella sativa extract | 5%, standardised | Supercritical CO2 extraction | Standardised to specification |
| Triquetra TQ-Advanced 4X | Black seed extract capsules | 20%, standardised | Supercritical CO2 extraction | Standardised to specification |
Read across the rows rather than down the thymoquinone column and the comparison changes character. Triquetra is offering a concentrated, consistent dose of one compound. Sidr & Stone is offering the seed's oil with nothing taken out or added, and a measurement of what is in it. Neither of those is the inferior version of the other.
Concentrate or Whole Oil: Which Do You Actually Want?
This comes down to what you are trying to do. If your interest is specifically thymoquinone — a known quantity of one compound, taken consistently, in a form you can dose precisely — a standardised extract does that job, and does it more predictably than any pressed oil can.
If your interest is black seed oil as a food — the traditional article, the whole pressed oil with its fatty acids and its own bitterness — then a concentrate is not really what you were looking for, however high the percentage. Published pharmacokinetic work notes that thymoquinone is highly lipophilic, and a whole oil delivers it already dissolved in the fatty matrix it came in. That is a well-grounded argument for whole-oil delivery rather than a proven head-to-head clinical verdict; the absorption research uses engineered formulations, not a spoonful of oil. Our explainer on thymoquinone in black seed oil goes further into it.
There is also a practical difference. Softgels and capsules are convenient and taste of nothing. A liquid oil lets you judge colour, smell, pepperiness and sediment before you swallow it — rough indicators, but real ones. Our guide to black seed oil in liquid form covers what the format tells you.
"Standardised" and "Verified Per Batch" Are Different Promises
This is the distinction we would most like readers to take away, and it applies well beyond Triquetra.
Standardised means the product is manufactured to hit a specified concentration. It is a formulation commitment, and a meaningful one — it is why an extract can promise consistency that a pressed oil cannot. Verified per batch means a sample from a specific production run was sent to an independent laboratory, tested, and the certificate published. It is a measurement commitment, and it answers a narrower but more concrete question: what was actually in this batch?
Both are legitimate. They are simply not the same assurance, and a shopper comparing a standardised 5% against a verified 2.67% is comparing a specification against a test result. For the wider set of checks, see our guide to a high quality black seed oil.
The Honest Limits of This Comparison
Two objections deserve a straight answer.
The first: isn't this just a way of explaining away a smaller number? It would be, if we were claiming a concentrate is inferior. We are not. A 5% standardised extract genuinely delivers more thymoquinone per serving than a 2.67% pressed oil, and if that is your goal, Triquetra's product does something ours does not. What we dispute is only the idea that the two figures rank the same thing.
The second: does more thymoquinone actually mean more benefit? Honestly, the evidence does not settle that. Most of the research is early-stage, much of it in animal models or in vitro, and there is no established human dose-response curve that would let anyone say a 5% concentrate outperforms a 2.67% whole oil in practice. Anyone who tells you otherwise is going beyond what the literature supports. Black seed oil is a food supplement, and the honest position is that a higher number on a label is a higher number on a label. For a fuller walkthrough of what to check, see our buyer's guide to choosing a quality black seed oil.
Why Sidr & Stone
We have chosen the whole-oil route, and the discipline that goes with it is measurement rather than formulation: we do not adjust the thymoquinone, so we publish what an independent laboratory found in it.
- Sidr & Stone's black seed oil contains 2.67% naturally occurring thymoquinone, independently verified per batch
- Tested by Analytice, an ISO-accredited French laboratory, with a Certificate of Analysis
- 100% pure — single ingredient, Nigella sativa seed oil, nothing added and nothing concentrated
- Cold-pressed below 40°C to protect the heat-sensitive thymoquinone
- Unrefined and unfiltered — natural fine sediment is normal
- Organically grown Ethiopian highland Nigella sativa, chosen after a 36-supplier evaluation
- Bottled in matte black UV-protective glass
- Halal certified
- 10% of profits to charity
- Fulfilment in the UK, EU, and US
We will not tell you Sidr & Stone is stronger than a concentrate — it plainly isn't, and saying so would be the sort of claim this article is arguing against. What we will say is that our 2.67% is the seed's own thymoquinone, in the seed's own oil, measured per batch by a named accredited laboratory, with the certificate there to read.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is Triquetra black seed oil?
It is the black seed range from Triquetra Health, built around its TQ-Advanced formulation — a supercritical CO2 extract standardised to 5% thymoquinone, sold as a liquid and as softgels, with a separate 4X extract capsule standardised to 20%.
Is Triquetra's 5% thymoquinone figure genuine?
Triquetra publishes the figure on its own site and describes the product as a 15:1 concentrate from Nigella sativa extract produced by supercritical CO2 extraction. It is a standardised concentration in an extract, which is a different thing from a naturally occurring concentration in a pressed oil — but the company is clear about which it is selling.
Why is Sidr & Stone only 2.67% if Triquetra is 5%?
Because ours is a whole cold-pressed oil and theirs is a concentrate. A realistic thymoquinone content for genuine cold-pressed black seed oil sits in the low single-digit percentage range; anything much higher generally indicates an extract or a standardised product rather than a plain pressed oil.
Is a black seed oil extract better than a cold-pressed oil?
Not better — different. An extract gives a higher, more consistent thymoquinone dose. A whole cold-pressed oil gives the seed's oil intact, with its thymoquinone in its natural fatty-acid matrix. Which suits you depends on whether you want a concentrated compound or the whole food.
What does supercritical CO2 extraction do to black seed oil?
It uses pressurised carbon dioxide instead of chemical solvents to pull compounds from the seed, at low temperature. It is a cold, clean method that does not degrade heat-sensitive compounds, and it is capable of producing far higher concentrations than pressing.
What is the difference between standardised and independently verified?
Standardised means the product is formulated to reach a stated concentration. Independently verified per batch means a sample from a specific run was tested by an outside laboratory and the certificate published. One is a specification; the other is a measurement of what a particular batch contained.
Where can I buy a verified cold-pressed black seed oil?
Buying direct from a producer that publishes its own laboratory testing is the most reliable route. Sidr & Stone's cold-pressed Ethiopian black seed oil is available from our website, with fulfilment in the UK, EU, and US.
Is black seed oil a medicine?
No. Black seed oil is a food supplement, not a medicine. It has a long traditional history and an interesting body of research around thymoquinone, and can be a worthwhile part of a healthy routine — but it does not cure diseases and is not a substitute for medical care. Be cautious of any black seed oil marketed with specific disease-cure claims.
Final Thoughts
Comparing 5% against 2.67% feels like it ought to settle something, and it doesn't. One number describes a concentrate engineered to a target; the other describes an oil measured as it came out of the press. Put side by side without that context, the bigger number wins an argument it was never actually in.
Triquetra makes a legitimate product and says clearly what it is. If a standardised, concentrated thymoquinone dose is what you are after, that is a reasonable place to look. If what you want is black seed oil — the whole pressed oil, single ingredient, nothing removed and nothing concentrated — then the question worth asking is not how high the percentage goes, but who measured it, and whether they measured your batch.
Our cold-pressed Ethiopian black seed oil — whole, unrefined, and independently verified at 2.67% thymoquinone per batch — is available now, with fulfilment in the UK, EU, and US.
Shop Sidr & Stone Cold-Pressed Ethiopian Black Seed Oil — Verified 2.67% Thymoquinone →
Disclaimer: This article describes Triquetra Health's publicly stated product specifications at the time of writing; brand specifications, formulations and research findings may change, and readers should check current sources. References to Triquetra Health describe publicly available product information and are not affiliated with or endorsed by the brand. Comparisons are made in good faith and in fair terms. Black seed oil is a food supplement, not a medicine, and is not a substitute for medical treatment of any condition. For any health concern, consult a qualified medical professional.