Brassica nigra

Taxonomy and growth

Family

Brassicaceae

Genus

Brassica

Life cycle

annual

Height

1.2 m

Spread

0.6 m

Fertility

Self fertile, Bees, Flies

Flower type

hermaphrodite

Pollinators

Bees, Flies

Uses

Edible uses

This section contains historical Plants For A Future notes marked noncommercial.

Leaves - raw or cooked^[6][20][1]. A hot flavour, they can be finely chopped and added to salads or cooked as a potherb^[5]. The seedlings can also be used as a salading when about one week old, adding a hot pungency to a salad[2, 27, 183, K]. Immature flowering stems - cooked and eaten like broccoli^[5]. Mustard seed is commonly ground into a powder and used as a food flavouring and relish^{[16][18][3][14][15]}. This is the black mustard of commerce, it is widely used as a food relish and as an ingredient of curry^[5]. Pungency of mustard develops when cold water is added to the ground-up seed - an enzyme (myrosin) acts on a glycoside (sinigrin) to produce a sulphur compound. The reaction takes 10 - 15 minutes. Mixing with hot water or vinegar, or adding salt, inhibits the enzyme and produces a mild bitter mustard^[11]. The seed can also be used whole to season pickles, curries, sauerkraut etc^[5][11]. Black mustard has a stronger more pungent flavour than white mustard (Sinapis alba) and brown mustard (B. juncea)^[11]. An edible oil is obtained from the seed^[6][8][4].

Medicinal uses

Historical medicinal uses. These records describe reported uses. They do not establish safety or effectiveness. Ask a qualified health professional before using any plant medicinally.

This section contains historical Plants For A Future notes marked noncommercial.

Mustard seed is often used in herbal medicine, especially as a rubefacient poultice^[16]. The seed is ground and made into a paste then applied to the skin^{[16][8][17][9]} in the treatment of rheumatism, as a means of reducing congestion in internal organs^[16][10]. Applied externally, mustard relieves congestion by drawing the blood to the surface as in head afflictions, neuralgia and spasms. Hot water poured on bruised seeds makes a stimulant foot bath, good for colds and headaches. Old herbals suggested mustard for treating alopecia, epilepsy, snakebite, and toothache^[13]. Care must be taken not to overdo it, since poultices can sometimes cause quite severe irritation to the skin[K]. The seed is also used internally, when it is appetizer, digestive, diuretic, emetic and tonic^[16][8][17]. Swallowed whole when mixed with molasses, it acts as a laxative^[9]. A decoction of the seeds is used in the treatment of indurations of the liver and spleen. It is also used to treat carcinoma, throat tumours, and imposthumes^[13]. A liquid prepared from the seed, when gargled, is said to help tumours of the \"sinax.\"^[13]. The seed is eaten as a tonic and appetite stimulant^{[16][8][17][10]}. Hot water poured onto bruised mustard seeds makes a stimulating foot bath and can also be used as an inhaler where it acts to throw off a cold or dispel a headache^[16]. Mustard Oil is said to stimulate hair growth. Mustard is also recommended as an aperient ingredient of tea, useful in hiccup. Mustard flour is considered antiseptic^[13].

Material uses

This section contains historical Plants For A Future notes marked noncommercial.

A semi-drying oil is obtained from the seed, as well as being edible it is also used as a lubricant, illuminant and in making soap^{[3][8][17][1]}. The plant is often grown as a green manure, it is very fast, producing a bulk suitable for digging into the soil in about 8 weeks^[1]. Not very winter hardy, it is generally used in spring and summer. It does harbour the pests and diseases of the cabbage family so is probably best avoided where these plants are grown in a short rotation and especially if club root is a problem. Mustard oil (allyl isothiocyanate) is used in commercial cat and dog repellent mixtures^[13].

Environment

Range

C. Europe. Occasionally naturalized in S.W. Britain^[3].

Habitat

Cliffs near the sea in S. W. England^[3].

Light

full sun

Shade tolerance

light shade

Water

moderate

Hardiness

Zone 7+

Soil textures

sandy, loamy, clay

Soil pH

very acid, acid, neutral, alkaline

Drainage

well drained

Tolerances

high wind, maritime exposure

Wind

Yes

Maritime

Yes

Tolerates Nutritionally Poor Soil

No

Drought

intolerant

Propagation

This section contains historical Plants For A Future notes marked noncommercial.

Cultivation

This section contains historical Plants For A Future notes marked noncommercial.

An easily grown plant, black mustard is suited to many types of soils except very heavy clays, it grows best on light sandy loams, or deep rich fertile soils^[13]. Succeeds in full sun in a well-drained fertile preferably alkaline soil^[7]. Prefers a heavy soil in an open position^[2]. Another report says that it prefers a light well-drained soil and some shade in the summer^[19]. The plant tolerates an annual precipitation of 30 to 170cm, an annual average temperature range of 6 to 27°C and a pH in the range of 4.9 to 8.2^[13]. Black mustard is adapted to a wide variety of climatic conditions, it is often grown in the temperate zone though it is mainly suited to tropical areas, and grown chiefly as a rainfed crop in areas of low or moderate rainfall^[13]. Black mustard is often cultivated for its edible seed, though it is going out of favour because it rapidly sheds its seeds once they are ripe and this makes it harder to harvest mechanically than the less pungent brown mustard (Brassica juncea).. This is used especially as a food flavouring, though it is also sown with the seeds of garden cress (Lepidium sativum) to provide mustard and cress, a salading eaten when the seedlings are about one week old. Black mustard is also grown as a medicinal plant. It germinates freely and quickly grows rapidly and makes a very useful green manure. The plants are not very winter hardy so the seed is best sown in the spring when grown for its seed whilst it can be sown as late as late summer as a green manure crop. The flowers have a pleasing perfume, though this is only noticed if several flowers are inhaled at the same time^[12].

Related plants

• Brassica balearica
• Brassica carinataAbyssinian Cabbage
• Brassica cretica
• Brassica elongata

References

1. Polunin. O. Flowers of Europe - A Field Guide. Oxford University Press 1969-00-00 ISBN 0192176218

   ↩1↩2↩3

2. Simons. New Vegetable Growers Handbook. Penguin 1977-00-00 ISBN 0-14-046-050-0

   ↩

3. Clapham, Tootin and Warburg. Flora of the British Isles. Cambridge University Press 1962-00-00

   ↩1↩2↩3↩4

4. Hill. A. F. Economic Botany. The Maple Press 1952-00-00

   ↩

5. Facciola. S. Cornucopia - A Source Book of Edible Plants. Kampong Publications 1990-00-00 ISBN 0-9628087-0-9

   ↩1↩2↩3↩4

6. Hedrick. U. P. Sturtevant's Edible Plants of the World. Dover Publications 1972-00-00 ISBN 0-486-20459-6

   ↩1↩2

7. Huxley. A. The New RHS Dictionary of Gardening. 1992. MacMillan Press 1992-00-00 ISBN 0-333-47494-5

   ↩

8. Lust. J. The Herb Book. Bantam books 1983-00-00 ISBN 0-553-23827-2

   ↩1↩2↩3↩4↩5

9. Weiner. M. A. Earth Medicine, Earth Food. Ballantine Books 1980-00-00 ISBN 0-449-90589-6

   ↩1↩2

10. Foster. S. & Duke. J. A. A Field Guide to Medicinal Plants. Eastern and Central N. America. Houghton Mifflin Co. 1990-00-00 ISBN 0395467225

    ↩1↩2

11. Bown. D. Encyclopaedia of Herbs and their Uses. Dorling Kindersley, London. 1995-00-00 ISBN 0-7513-020-31

    ↩1↩2↩3

12. Genders. R. Scented Flora of the World. Robert Hale. London. 1994-00-00 ISBN 0-7090-5440-8

    ↩

13. Duke. J. Handbook of Energy Crops - 1983-00-00

    ↩1↩2↩3↩4↩5↩6↩7↩8

14. Vilmorin. A. The Vegetable Garden. Ten Speed Press ISBN 0-89815-041-8

    ↩

15. Harrison. S. Wallis. M. Masefield. G. The Oxford Book of Food Plants. Oxford University Press 1975-00-00

    ↩

16. Grieve. A Modern Herbal. Penguin 1984-00-00 ISBN 0-14-046-440-9

    ↩1↩2↩3↩4↩5↩6↩7

17. Uphof. J. C. Th. Dictionary of Economic Plants. Weinheim 1959-00-00

    ↩1↩2↩3↩4

18. Mabey. R. Food for Free. Collins 1974-00-00 ISBN 0-00-219060-5

    ↩

19. Larkcom. J. Salads all the Year Round. Hamlyn 1980-00-00

    ↩

20. Harrington. H. D. Edible Native Plants of the Rocky Mountains. University of New Mexico Press 1967-00-00 ISBN 0-8623-0343-9

    ↩1↩2