The dried white fruit with the greyish brown color of a small slender herb, the aromatic seed-like fruit is elongated, ovoid, slightly bitter, and with a warm flavor. The flowers are often white or rose-colored in small umbels. Indigenous to North Egypt, Syria, the Mediterranean region, Iran, and India, it is also cultivated in Mexico, China Sicily, and Malta.

Cumin is a tropical plant and is cultivated as a rabi crop in areas where atmospheric humidity during February-March is low. Although they have an aromatic and bitter taste, it is often used as a condiment and is an ingredient in curry powders, seasonings of bread, cakes, and cheese.

In medicine, it is used as a stimulant, carminative, stomachic, and astringent. Cumin seed oil is also used in perfumery and for flavoring liquors and cordials.