MUSTARD
[‘KADUGU’ in Tamil and Malayalam, Sasive
in Kannada and Avalu in Telugu and ‘Sarson’ in Hindi]
The term ’Mustard’ as
used in science literature is one of baffling confusion. Yes, ‘mustard’ indicates
different plants that are named by colour as in[1] ‘White/Yellow/ mustard’[2]
‘Brown mustard’, [3]Black mustard and so on just to substantiate the level of
confusion pervading the topic. Of them
[1] = Sinapis alba, [2]Brassica juncea [well known across India]and
[3] Rhamphospermum nigrum .
Obviously, each of them is derived from different plants. Our effort confines
itself to the brown mustard [botanically, Brassica
juncea]
Perhaps the tiniest of
condiments used in our culinary prescriptions is the seed of mustard that we
use. Curiously it shares affinity with plants like cabbage and radish and is
not close to Sesame Thil [Hindi] ELLU [Tamil, Malayalam, Kannada] while it is Nevvu
/Manchi nevvu in Telugu]. Funnily the oil from Sesame is referred to as Sesame
oil/ Gingelly oil- popular in South India.]
Mustard oil is widely
used for cooking in Northern parts of India. Besides, world over, mustard has a
variety of uses. Brown mustard is both pungent and bitter if tasted raw. [The
famous Tamil utterance கடுகு சிறுத்தாலும் காரம் குறையாது meaning
‘Though tiny , doesn’t lose the vigour
of pungence’] .
Mustard is used as a
condiment largely for ‘seasoning’. Literally, there is no solid food item
devoid of mustard. I mean to suggest that mustard may not be used in juices/
beverages, while most items like variety rice, Chutney , Sambar, pickles always incorporate oil fried mustard
through ‘Seasoning’.
In a 100 gm mustard
seeds, the nutritional value is as follows.
Carbohydrates =about 6
g, 3 g each of sugar, fat and fibre while proteins account for 4 g . So, it is
a storehouse of some important ingredients for human health.
Mustard oil is rich in
vitamins A, B and Vitamin E, besides Omega 3 fatty acids. Calcium is also an
integral component in this product.
The pungent nature of
mustard oil owes itself to isocyanate .
Alpha linolenic acid and glucosinolate also are constituents of mustard oil.
Mustard oil extracted in traditional cold-pressed method retrains anti-oxidants
relevant for tissue health.
These tiny pellets
though small lend a big help to human health
******************************************************************
No comments:
Post a Comment