Mustard Seeds benefits, Chemical constituents, Synonyms

We use mustard seeds daily in our food while preparing it, have you ever wondered about the mustard seeds health benefits, its chemical constituents and its uses.

So let us check the health benefits of mustard seeds, mustard oil, chemical constituents in it along with synonyms.

Mustard Seeds Benefits:

Mustard seeds are used as a condiment and when it is taken in high doses internally, it is used as an emetic to induce vomiting.

Mustard seeds benefits

When mustard seeds are used externally, it works as a counter irritant and rubefacient in poultice or plasters. All the health benefits of mustard seeds is because of the presence of chemical agent sinigrin.

Mustard Preparations:

Know about some of the preparations of mustard:

Mustard liniment: Mustard liniment contains volatile mustard oil, camphor, castor oil and alcohol.

Mustard spirit is a volatile mustard oil in alcohol. Black mustard oil is expressed from black mustard and can be used as mild rubefacient.

Mustard biological source and distribution:

Mustard seeds are the dried ripe seeds of Brassica nigra or Brassica juncea of the family Cruciferae and is also known as black mustard.

Mustard is a herb with a slender erect stem and yellow flowers. The aerial part of the herb is cut after the plant matures and is dried to collect the mustard seeds.

Mustard, Brassica juncea  is grown as a rabi crop in India in the states of Uttar Pradesh, Bengal and Bihar. Black mustard seeds are largely cultivated in India, USA and Europe.

These black mustard seeds are in round shape in black, dark brown or reddish brown colour with pungent odour and bitter taste.

Mustard chemical constituents:

Mustard seeds contain fixed oil, volatile oil and proteins. The main chemical constituent of mustard seeds is sinigrin (potassium myronate) which is a isothiocynate glycoside. Sinigrin gets hydrolysed to allyl isothiocynate by the action of enzyme myrosin in the presence of water.

Allyl isothiocynate is a volatile mustard oil which is the main essence of mustard. Mustard oil is a pale yellow or colourless liquid with sharp, pungent and irritating odour with acrid taste. It is a powerful vesicant and irritant substance. Mustard seeds contain mucilage and acid sinapine sulphate.

Mustard Synonyms

Check out mustard synonyms or other names of mustard in other languages and it is known as Raisarisha in Bengali, Rai in Gujrati, Sarson in Hindi Sasive in Kannada, Mohari in Marathi, Rajica in Sanskrit, Kadugu or aavalu in Telugu, Asalrai in Punjabi, Sorosha in Oriya. Mustard is known as Sareptasent in German and Bredes moutarde in French.