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Family • Cruciferae
Mustasa
Brassica integrifolia O. E. Schutz.
MUSTARD
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| Other scientific names | Common names |
| Sinapsis integrifolia West | Mostaza (Span.) |
| Brassica juncea F.-Vill. | Mustasa (Tag.) |
| Sinapsis juncea Blanco | Mustard (Engl.) |
| Sinapsis brassicata Blanco | |
| Brassica orientalis Blanco | |
| Sinapsis sinensis Blanco |
| Botany Erect, branched, smooth annual, 0.4 to 1 meter high. Leaves are oblong-obovate to oblong-lanceolate, 5 to 15 xm long, irregularly toothed or subentire, the lower ones sometimes lobed. Flowers are yellow, 6 to 8 mm long. Pod is ascending, linear-lanceolate, contracted between the seeds. Constituents and medicinal properties • Counterirritant, emmenagogue, rubefacient. • Seed contains the mustard oil, the active principle. Pure mustard oil is pale yellow, faintly smelling of mustard with a shard and pungent taste. • Considered analgesic, antibacterial, antifungal, diuretic, emetic, galatagogue, stimulant. • Purification and properties of phenylalanine ammonia-lyase from leaf mustard. (Source) Distribution Widely distributed in the settled areas, in towns and houses, planted and spontaneous. Uses Nutritional Leaves eaten as green leafy vegetable. Excellent source of calcium, phosphorus, iron and vitamin B. Folkloric Counterirritant, leaves applied externally for pleurodynia and pleuritis, neuralgia, lumbago. Hot-foot bath of mustard (seeds or leaves) for headaches, common cold, and fevers. Leaves applied to the forehead for headaches. Hip-bath of mustard used as emmenagogue. Poultice of mustard leaves or seeds used for neuralgic and rheumatic complaints. Pure fresh oil taken from seeds used as external counterirritant. Combined oil of mustard and camplor used for muscle pains, As an emetic, 4-5 tsp in a cup of warm water. In Java, used as antisyphilitic emmenagogue. In China, leaves in soup for bladder, inflammation and hemorrhage. In India, leaves used for diabetes. Studies • Juncin / Antifungal Protein / Anti-Tumor: Study isolated juncin from the seeds of Japanese takana (Brassica Juncea var. integrifolia). The protein exhibited antifungal activity against Fusarium oxysporum, Helminthosporium maydis and Mycosphaerella arachidicola. It inhibited the proliferation of hepatoma and breast cancer cells. • Anti-Diabetes Benefit: Study showed feeding of a fructose diet containing 10% Brassica juncea seeds significantly reduced fasting serum glucose, insulin and cholesterol levels. Results suggest that B juncea can play a role in the management of pre-diabetic state of insulin resistance. • Hypoglycemic / Antihyperglycemic Effect: Study showed the B juncea diet showed significant antihyperglycemic effect in alloxan but not in STZ rats. • Anti-Diabetic Oxidative Stress: Study of four fractions from mustard leaf (B juncea) showed the ethanolic fraction showed the strongest concentration-dependent inhibitory effect on the formation of advanced glycation products and free radical-mediated protein damage in an invitro system suggesting a potential protective role against diabetes and/or its complications. Availability Wild-crafted. Market produce. |
Last Update July 2010
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Photo © Godofredo Stuart / StuartXchange |
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