Mustard seeds

Mustard seeds are the small round seeds of various mustard plants. The seeds are usually about 1 or 2 mm in diameter. Mustard seeds may be colored from yellowish white to black. They are important spices in many regional foods. The seeds can come from three different plants: black mustard (Brassica nigra), brown Indian mustard (B. juncea), and white mustard (B. hirta/Sinapis alba).

History

In the New Testament, the mustard seed is used by Jesus in the parable of the Mustard Seed as a model for the kingdom of God which initially starts small but grows to be the biggest of all garden plants. Faith is also spoken about in the context of a mustard seed.^{[1][2][3][4][5]}

The earliest reference to mustard is in India from a story of Gautama Buddha in the 5th century BCE. Gautama Buddha told the story of the grieving mother (Kisa Gotami) and the mustard seed. When a mother loses her only son, she takes his body to the Buddha to find a cure. The Buddha asks her to bring a handful of mustard seeds from a family that has never lost a child, husband, parent or friend. When the mother is unable to find such a house in her village, she realizes that death is common to all, and she cannot be selfish in her grief.^[6][7] The Buddha stated that if an individual were to pick a single mustard seed every hundred years from a seven-mile cube worth of mustard seeds, then by the time the last seed is picked, the age of the world cycle would still continue. (If a mustard seed is 3 mm in diameter, then taking one seed every 100 years from a seven-mile cube of seeds, would take 936 quintillion years, 68 billion times the age of the universe.)

Jewish texts compare the knowable universe to the size of a mustard seed to demonstrate the world's insignificance and to teach humility.^[8] The Jewish philosopher Nahmanides mentions the universe expanded from the time of its creation, in which it was the size of a mustard seed.^[9]

Regional usage

Mohari (Marathi: मोहरी ), Aavalu (Telugu: ఆవlu), kadugu (Tamil: கடுகு), or sasive (Kannada:ಸಾಸಿವೆ), "Kadugu" (Malayalam: കടുക്) variety of Indian pickle consisting mainly of mangoes, red chilli powder and aavaa pindi (powdered mustard seed) preserved in mustard oil, is popular in Southern India with its origin in Andhra Pradesh.

These mustard seeds are known in Hindi/Urdu as sarson (indian colza, Brassica rapa subsp. trilocularis, syn. Brassica campestris var. sarson)^[10] and in Punjabi as sarron. These are used as a spice in Northern India and Nepal. The seeds are usually roasted until they pop. They are also planted to grow saag (greens) which are stir-fried and eaten as a vegetable preparation, sarson ka saag (sarron da saag in Punjabi).

In Maharastra, it is called as mohari, and is used frequently in Maharastrian recipes.

Sarson ka tel (mustard oil) is used for body massage during extreme winters, as it is assumed to keep the body warm and moist.

Cultivation

Mustard seeds generally take three to ten days to germinate if placed under the proper conditions, which include a cold atmosphere and relatively moist soil. Mature mustard plants grow into shrubs.

Mustard grows well in temperate regions. Major producers of mustard seeds include Canada, Hungary, Great Britain, India, Pakistan and the United States. Brown and black mustard seeds return higher yields than their yellow counterparts.^[11]

In Pakistan, rapeseed-mustard is the second most important source of oil, after cotton. It is cultivated over an area of 307,000 hectares with annual production of 233,000 tonnes and contributes about 17% to the domestic production of edible oil.

Mustard seed is a rich source of oil and protein. The seed has oil as high as 46-48 percent, whole seed meal has 43.6 percent protein.

Production

Top 10 mustard seed producers in 2010
Country	Production (tonnes)	Footnote
Canada	186,400
Nepal	149,625
Ukraine	64,400
Burma	58,300	Im
Russia	36,410
United States	18,990
China	17,600	Im
Czech Republic	15,586	Im
France	8,500	Im
Romania	6,739
World	586,397	A
* = Unofficial figure | [ ] = Official data | A = May include official, semi-official or estimated data F = FAO estimate | Im = FAO data based on imputation methodology | M = Data not available Source: UN Food & Agriculture Organisation (FAO)[12]

See also

• Mustard

References

External links

Commons has media related to Mustard seeds.

• Homecooking.about.com
• McCormick.com.au