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 | Mustard (White) Other Names:
Botanical Name: Brassica alba
Family: N.O. Cruciferae |
Description: |
The White Mustard, a native of Europe, common in our fields and by roadsides, and also largely cultivated, is an erect annual, about a foot or more in height, with pinnatifid leaves and large, yellow, cruciferousflowers. It closely resembles the Black Mustard, but is smaller. The fruit of the two plants differs considerably in shape, those of the White Mustard being more or less horizontal and hairy, while Black Mustard pods are erect and smooth. The pods of White Mustard are spreading, roundish pods, ribbed and swollen where the seeds are situated, and provided with a very large flattened, swordshaped beak at the end. Each pod contains four to six globular seeds, about 1/12 inch in diameter, yellow both on the surface and internally. The seed-coat, though appearing smooth, on examination with a lens, is seen to be covered with minute pits and to be finely reticulated. The inner seedcoats contain a quantity of mucilage, with which the seeds become coated when soaked in water, hence they are often employed to absorb the last traces of moisture in bottles which are not chemically dry. The cotyledons of the seeds contain oil and give a pungent but inodorous emulsion when rubbed with water.
The young seedling plants of White Mustard are commonly raised in gardens for salad, the seeds being usually sown with those of the garden cress and germinating with great rapidity. They may be grown all the year round, the seed readily vegetating under a hand-glass even in cold weather, if the ground is not absolutely frozen.
'When in the leaf,' wrote John Evelyn in 1699, in his Acetaria, 'Mustard, especially in young seedling plants, is of incomparable effect to quicken and revive the spirits, strengthening the memory, expelling heaviness, . . . besides being an approved antiscorbutic.'
In Gerard's time, a century earlier, White Mustard was not very common in England.
Both Mustards afford excellent fodder for sheep, and as they can be sown late in the summer are often used for this purpose after the failure of a turnip or rape crop, the White Mustard being more frequently employed, as it is less pungent, though equally nutritious. White Mustard makes a good catch crop, being ready for consumption on the land by sheep eight or nine weeks after being sown. It may be sown in southern counties after an early corn crop, about a peck of seed being sown broadcast to the acre. The plants are hoed sometimes to a distance of about 9 inches apart, if required for seed.
As green manure, both kinds of Mustard are employed, but the White Mustard is preferred for this purpose by English farmers, the seed being sown in August and September, and when the plants have attained a good size, about two months after sowing, they are ploughed in. Besides affording useful manure in itself, this green manure helps to prevent the waste of nitrates, which instead of being washed away in drainage water, which would probably happen if the soil were bare, are stored up in the growing plant.
The seeds of the Mustards retain their vitality for a great length of time when buried in the ground, so that after the plants have once been grown anywhere, it is difficult to get rid of them. It has been noticed in the Isle of Ely that whenever a trench was made, White Mustard sprang up from the newlyturned earth. |
Constituents: |
The epidermal cells of the seed coat of White Mustard seeds contain mucilage, and the cotyledons contain from 23 to 26 per cent of a fixed oil, which consists of the glycerides of oleic, stearic and erucic or brassic acids. The seeds also contain the crystalline glucoside Sinalbin and the enzyme Myrosin, which unite to form a volatile oil, called Sinalbin Mustard Oil, used for various purposes, though not so pungent as that of Black Mustard. This oil cannot be obtained by distillation, but is extracted by boiling alcohol after the seed has been deprived of its fixed oil. When cold, the volatile oil possesses only a faint, anise-like odour, but a pungent odour is given off on heating. The cake, after the oil is expressed, is pungent and therefore not well fitted for cattle food, but is used for manure.
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Medicinal Usage: |
The seeds when ground form a pungent powder, but it is much inferior in strength to that prepared from the black-seeded species.
They have been employed medicinally from very early times. Hippocrates advised their use both internally and as a counter irritating poultice, made with vinegar. They have been administered frequently in disorders of the digestive organs. White Mustard seeds were at one time quite a fashionable remedy as a laxative, especially for old people, the dose being 1/2 OZ. in the entire state, but from the danger of their retention in the intestines, they are not very safe in large quantities, having in several cases caused inflammation of the stomach and intestinal canal.
An infusion of the seeds will relieve chronic bronchitis and confirmed rheumatism, and for a relaxed sore throat a gargle of Mustard Seed Tea will be found of service. |
Ancient Lore: |
MUSTARD (White) SINAPIS ALBA
Whenever a strong stimulating medicine is wanted to act on the nerves, and not excite heat, there is none preferable to Mustardseed.
An annual growing to about 18 inches (46 cm) with rough, hairy leaves, and deep yellow flowers, larger than other mustards. The seeds are white and contained in hairy pods. Although larger than other Mustard seeds, they are not quite as hot.
Where to find it. Not so common as other varieties, but found on cultivated land and areas rich in lime. Flowering time: Late spring to late summer.
Astrology: A herb of Mars.
Medicinal virtues: The young shoots can be used in salads and are very wholesome. The seed, bruised and infused in wine or ale, is of service against the scurvy and dropsy, provoking urine and the menses. Outwardly applied, Mustard is drawing and ripening: and laid on paralytic members it recalls the natural heat. Poultices made with Mustard flowers, breadcrumbs and vinegar, are frequently applied to the soles of the feet in fevers and may be used to advantage in old rheumatic and sciatic pains.
Modern uses: The seed is used in much the same way as Black Mustard seed. Taken internally the seeds are laxative, mainly because of the mucilage they produce, but small doses only are advised, as they may inflame the stomach. In making poultices, the white seeds can be mixed with the black. Such applications are very stimulating and redden the skin, but they are useful in treating bronchitis and rheumatic pains. |
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