Mustard Plant Types

One of the oldest spices known to man is mustard. It was regarded to have several medicinal properties by the Greek mathematician, Pythagoras five centuries before Christ. Moreover, In the Bible, Jesus Christ also used parables with reference to the mustard seed in the Bible. Mustard plants correspond to various plant species in the genera Brassica and Sinapis and are known to reach maturity very fast. These plants are very beneficial, as almost every part of the plant is useful to man. The leaves (mustard greens) and tender stems can be boiled and consumed as vegetables, while the tiny mustard seeds can be used as spice. Moreover, the seeds are also used to prepare mustard condiments, mustard oil, etc. Now that we know how valuable mustard is, let us have a look at the different mustard plant types, which give rise to the wonderful mustard beads.

Types of Mustard Plants

Mustard is rich in calcium, potassium, vitamin C, vitamin A and folic acid and they come in different colors like white, yellow, brown or black. All these types have the same properties and vary only in their degrees of strengths; white or yellow being the strongest, black next and then brown. Let us learn more about these mustard plant varieties and some mustard plant facts.

White Mustard (Sinapis alba)

The scientific classification of white mustard is as follows:

Kingdom: Plantae
Order: Brassicales
Family: Brassicaceae
Genus: Sinapis
Species: S. alba

White mustard or Sinapis alba is an annual plant that is grown for its mustard seeds, as green manure or as fodder crop. This crop is believed to have originated in the Mediterranean region, however, today it grows wild in the Middle East, Mediterranean Europe and North Africa and has also spread across the globe by long cultivation. This plant blooms between the months of February and March and exhibits formation of pretty yellow flowers, which conduce to hairy seed pods formation. Each of these pods contain about half a dozen seeds. These seeds are harvested just before the pods become ripe and burst. White mustard seeds are hard round seeds (1-1.5 millimeter in diameter), with their color ranging from beige to yellow to light brown. They can be toasted to use in dishes or even used whole for pickling. They are even ground and mixed with other ingredients to form standard condiments. They have a pungent taste, which is due to sinalbin (a glucosinolate) content in them. Moreover, white mustard contains fewer volatile oils which are responsible for the milder flavor produced.

Brown mustard (Brassica juncea)

The scientific classification of brown mustard is as follows:

Kingdom: Plantae
Order: Brassicales
Family: Brassicaceae
Genus: Brassica
Species: B. juncea

Brown mustard or Brassica juncea, one of the mustard plant species is also known as Indian mustard, leaf mustard and mustard greens. It originated from the foothills of the Himalayas and is grown commercially today in Canada, UK, US and Denmark. The sub-varieties of this species include Southern Giant Curled Mustard, which bears semblance to a headless cabbage like kale, but with a horseradish-mustard flavor. This plant is cultivated by farmers as green manure, whereby, it acts as mulch and covers the soil to inhibit weeds from growing between crops. If grown for green manure, these plants are cut down from their base when they have sufficiently grown and left to wither on their own. This causes them to act as a mulch till the next crop's sowing season. Moreover, in hazardous waste sites, this plant is used to discard heavy metals from the soil. This plant has a high tolerance level for these substances and stores the heavy metal in their cells. The plants are then harvested and disposed off appropriately.

Black mustard (Brassica nigra)

The scientific classification of black mustard is as follows:

Kingdom: Plantae
Order: Brassicales
Family: Brassicaceae
Genus: Brassica
Species: B. nigra

The black mustard plant is believed to be native to the southern Mediterranean region of Europe and has been cultivated for thousands of years. This plant is grown in Chile, US, Argentina and some European countries, Canada being the country producing 90% of the mustard seeds for the international market. Brassica nigra is cultivated as a vegetable in Ethiopia and its leaves and stems are cooked and consumed. This plant can grow from 2-8 feet tall, developing small yellow flowers, that are usually up to 1/3 inch across with 4 petals each. Moreover, the leaves of this plant are covered in small hair. These leaves wilt during the day, however, recover at night. The seeds of this plant are hard and very in color from dark brown to black. They have no aroma, however, are quite flavorful and commonly used in Indian cuisine. These seeds contain a substantial amount of fatty oil, which is extracted to produce cooking mustard oil.

This was all about the basic mustard plant types belonging to the mustard plant family. Mustard plants are cultivated and loved for their mustard greens, cooking oil, seeds and condiments. So the next time you apply mustard sauce on your hot dog, don't forget to remember the lovely mustard plants that produce them!