Mustard oil can mean either the pressed oil used for cooking or a pungentessential oil, also known as volatile oil, of themustard plant. The essential oil results from grindingmustard seed, mixing the grounds with water, and isolating the resulting volatile oil bydistillation. It can also be produced bydry distillation of the seed. Pressed mustard oil is used as cooking oil in many South Asian cusines; however, sale is restricted in some North American and European countries due to high levels oferucic acid. Variations of mustard seeds low in erucic acid have been cultivated at times.
Mustard oil was likely produced in the ancient Jewish town ofHuqoq, in modern-day Israel[citation needed]. This is suggested by distinctive agricultural features found there, such as semi-circular wine vats with steep slopes and lower troughs. Scholars believe these structures, dating toRoman orByzantine times, were used to crush mustard pods to make oil. Mustard production in Huqoq is also documented in theJerusalem Talmud.[1][2]
Oil makes up about 30% of mustard seeds. It can be produced from black mustard (Brassica nigra), brown mustard (B. juncea), and white mustard (B. alba).
Having a distinctive pungent taste, the use of the oil is a feature of predominantlyAssamese,Odia,Bengali,Nepalese[3] andNorth Indian cooking,[4][5] as well asBangladeshi cuisine.[6] It is sometimes used as a substitute forghee.[7]
Its pungent flavor is due toallyl isothiocyanate, aphytochemical of plants in the mustard family,Brassicaceae (for example,cabbage,horseradish orwasabi).
Mustard oil has about 60% monounsaturatedfatty acids (42%erucic acid and 12%oleic acid); it has about 21% polyunsaturated fats (6% the omega-3alpha-linolenic acid and 15% the omega-6linoleic acid), and it has about 12% saturated fats.[8]
Mustard oil can have up to 50%erucic acid[9] – a component ofcanola oil, which is deemed as a safefood ingredient for human consumption when the erucic acid level does not exceed 2% of the total fatty acids and the canola oil is pure.[10]
TheU.S. Food and Drug Administration prohibits the import or sale of expressed mustard oil in the U.S. for use in cooking due to its high erucic acid content. By contrast, the FDA classifies essential mustard oil, which has a much lower erucic acid content, asgenerally recognized as safe, and allows its use in food.[11][12] Expressed mustard oil is permitted in the U.S. as amassage oil, with a required "for external use only" label.[6]
Mustard oil (per 100 g) contains 884calories of food energy and is 100%fat. The fat composition is 11%saturated fat, 59%monounsaturated fat, and 21%polyunsaturated fat.[8]
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The pungency of thecondiment mustard results when ground mustard seeds are mixed withwater,vinegar, or other liquid (or even when chewed). Under these conditions, a chemical reaction between theenzymemyrosinase and aglucosinolate known assinigrin from the seeds of black mustard (Brassica nigra) or brown Indian mustard (Brassica juncea) producesallyl isothiocyanate. Bydistillation one can produce a very sharp-tastingessential oil, sometimes calledvolatile oil of mustard, containing more than 92% allyl isothiocyanate. The pungency of allyl isothiocyanate is due to the activation of theTRPA1 ion channel in sensory neurons. White mustard (Brassica hirta) does not yieldallyl isothiocyanate, but the milder4-Hydroxybenzyl isothiocyanate degraded fromsinalbin rather thansinigrin.[13]
Allyl isothiocyanateserves the plant as adefense against herbivores. Since it is harmful to the plant,[14] it is stored in the harmless form of a glucosinolate, separate from the enzyme myrosinase. Once the herbivore chews the plant, the noxious allyl isothiocyanate is produced. Allyl isothiocyanate is also responsible for the pungent taste ofhorseradish andwasabi. It can be produced synthetically, sometimes known assynthetic mustard oil.[15]
[Mustard seed oil samples are] were bought retail in Germany (n = 6) and Australia (n = 3) [, but] the source of the mustard seed [samples] is unknown except for one [...] grown in Germany. [Mustard seed oil samples] purchased from German retail showed a greater variation including the lowest (0.3%) and highest (50.8%) contribution of erucic acid to the fatty acid pattern found within all samples [...] In the mustard samples, erucic acid contributed between 14% and 33% to the total [fatty acids.]
Allyl isothiocyanate (AITC) [...] has been used in agriculture because of its fungicidal [...] bactericidal, nematocidal [able to destroy nematodes], and herbicidal [able to destroy plants] biological activities.
