WHITE MUSTARD (Sinapis alba L.)

The mustard as stimulant was known in the ancient Greece and Rome. Traditions of mustard production in the Czech countries dates back to the beginning of the 19^th century.

Seeds

Importance and seed composition:

The white mustard is the main mustard kind cultivated in this country. It is grown for the food industry, for livestock fodder, green manure and seed is also exported abroad. It is also a hone-bearing plant. In medicine, mustard seed has been used from away back to make mustard flour from which dough is made used as mustard poultice to soothen rheumatic pain.

In the food industry seeds are used for mustard production. There are three basic kinds of mustard: White mustard, also called yellow mustard, is finer and less hot. Mustards with milder taste are produced from it such as full-fat mustard, typically used in this country. Black mustard seeds have sharper, almost stingy taste and are used for the production of Kremser mustard. The sharpest taste is the sarept mustard from which savoury French type mustards are made, known as Dijon mustard, oriental mustards and Kremser mustard (blended with white mustard). Whole seeds are used for pickling vegetables, mushrooms, fish. Ground seeds are sometimes used in spice blends for wines. Leaves of young plants can be used added in vegetable salads.

For animal feeding, mustard is used only as fodder till flowering time, seeds are not used because of high contents of antinutritional substances. The most important are sinapines and glucosinolates sinalbin and sinigrin that are present in green matter, too. Splitting products of sinigrin, allylkyanid and allylisothiocyanate could be the cause of health disorders, and can be a cause of health disorder when feeding large amounts of brassicaceae fodders. These disorders are manifested by inappetence, poor performance, fertility disorders and liver and kidney lesions. In very sensitive species such as roe deer even emaciation and CNS damage may occur that can lead to behavioral changes. These disorders are probably caused by combined effects of all the harmful substances.

In human nutrition a slight irritating effect of low levels of antinutritional substances in the digestive tract is favourable. Due to the irritation, blood supply to mucosa is increased as well as secretion of gastric juice and bile, thus improving digestion and appetite. They also support heart activity and increase blood pressure.

 Cultivation requirements:

For the mustard cultivation, loamy soils are the best. An optimum previous crop is sugar beet, but most often it is grown after winter wheat. Because of its very fast growth, massive root system and favourable effect on soil it is an important intermediate crop. Seeds have high requirements for post-harvest treatment because they get moldy very easily. Therefore they must be dried to 10% moisture after the harvest.