Brassica juncea

This article is about the plant. For other uses, see Mustard.

Brassica juncea
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Plantae
(unranked):	Angiosperms
(unranked):	Eudicots
(unranked):	Rosids
Order:	Brassicales
Family:	Brassicaceae
Genus:	Brassica
Species:	B. juncea
Binomial name
Brassica juncea (L.) Vassiliĭ Matveievitch Czernajew (1796–1871)

Brassica juncea, mustard greens, Indian mustard, Chinese mustard, Jie Cai (in Mandarin) or Kai Choi (in Cantonese), or leaf mustard is a species of mustard plant.

Subvarieties include southern giant curled mustard, which resembles a headless cabbage such as kale, but with a distinct horseradish-mustard flavor. It is also known as green mustard cabbage.

Uses

Fresh mustard greens

Fried mustard green dish

Food

The leaves, the seeds, and the stem of this mustard variety are edible. The plant appears in some form in African, Pakistani, Bangladeshi, Italian, Indian, Chinese, Japanese, Korean, and African-American (soul food) cuisine. Cultivars of B. juncea are grown as greens, and for the production of oilseed. In Russia, this is the main variety grown for production of mustard oil. It is widely used in canning, baking and margarine production in Russia, and the majority of table mustard there is also made from this species of mustard plant.

Because it may contain erucic acid, a potential toxin, mustard oil is restricted from import as a vegetable oil into the United States. Essential oil of mustard, however, is accepted as GRAS.

The leaves are used in African cooking, and leaves, seeds, and stems are used in Indian cuisine, particularly in mountain regions of Nepal, as well as in the Punjab cuisine of India and Pakistan, where a famous dish called sarson da saag (mustard greens) is prepared. B. juncea subsp. tatsai, which has a particularly thick stem, is used to make the Indian pickle called achar, and the Chinese pickle zha cai. The mustard made from the seeds of the B. juncea is called brown mustard. The leaves and seeds are used in many Indian dishes.

The Gorkhas of Darjeeling and Sikkim prepare pork with mustard greens (also called rayo in Nepali). It is usually eaten with relish with steamed rice, but could also be eaten with chapati (griddle breads).

Brassica juncea is more pungent than the closely related Brassica oleracea greens (kale, cabbage, collard greens, et cetera), and is frequently mixed with these milder greens in a dish of "mixed greens", which may include wild greens such as dandelion. As with other greens in soul food cooking, mustard greens are generally flavored by being cooked for a long period with ham hocks or other smoked pork products. Mustard greens are high in vitamin A and vitamin K.

Cantonese-style braised mustard greens, with wolfberries

Chinese and Japanese cuisines also make use of mustard greens. In Japanese cuisine it is known as takana and is often pickled and used as filling in onigiri or as a condiment. A large variety of B. juncea cultivars are used, including zha cai, mizuna, takana (var. integrifolia), juk gai choy, and xuelihong. Asian mustard greens are most often stir-fried or pickled. A Southeast Asian dish called asam gai choy or kiam chai boey is often made with leftovers from a large meal. It involves stewing mustard greens with tamarind, dried chillies and leftover meat on the bone.

Brassica juncea is also known as gai choi, siu gai choi, xaio jie cai, baby mustard, Chinese leaf mustard or mostaza.

Cultivar	Image	Name
Canola		Brassica juncea subsp. juncea
Zha cai		Brassica juncea subsp. tatsai
Mizuna		Brassica juncea var. japonica
Juk gai choy		Brassica juncea var. crispifolia
Takana		Brassica juncea var. integrifolia (= B.j. var. rugosa')

Nutrition

In 100 grams, cooked mustard greens provide 26 calories and are a rich source (20% or more of the Daily Value, DV) of vitamins A, C and K which is especially high as a multiple of its DV (table). Mustard greens are a moderate source of vitamin E and calcium (table). Greens are 92% water, 4.5% carbohydrates, 2.6% protein and 0.5% fat (table).

Mustard greens, cooked, boiled, drained, without salt

Nutritional value per 100 g (3.5 oz)
Energy	110 kJ (26 kcal)
Carbohydrates	4.51 g
Sugars	1.41 g
Dietary fiber	2 g
Fat	0.47 g
Protein	2.56 g
Vitamins
Vitamin A equiv. beta-carotene lutein zeaxanthin	(77%) 618 μg (69%) 7400 μg 10400 μg
Thiamine (B1)	(4%) 0.041 mg
Riboflavin (B2)	(5%) 0.063 mg
Niacin (B3)	(3%) 0.433 mg
Pantothenic acid (B5)	(2%) 0.12 mg
Vitamin B6	(8%) 0.098 mg
Folate (B9)	(2%) 9 μg
Vitamin C	(30%) 25.3 mg
Vitamin E	(12%) 1.78 mg
Vitamin K	(564%) 592.7 μg
Minerals
Calcium	(12%) 118 mg
Iron	(7%) 0.87 mg
Magnesium	(4%) 13 mg
Phosphorus	(6%) 42 mg
Potassium	(3%) 162 mg
Sodium	(1%) 9 mg
Zinc	(2%) 0.22 mg
Full Link to USDA Database entry
Units μg = micrograms • mg = milligrams IU = International units
Percentages are roughly approximated using US recommendations for adults. Source: USDA Nutrient Database

Green mustard

Vegetable growers sometimes grow mustard as a green manure. Its main purpose is to act as a mulch, covering the soil to suppress weeds between crops. If grown as a green manure, the mustard plants are cut down at the base when sufficiently grown, and left to wither on the surface, continuing to act as a mulch until the next crop is due for sowing, when the mustard is dug in. In the UK, summer and autumn-sown mustard is cut down from October. April sowings can be cut down in June, keeping the ground clear for summer-sown crops. One of the disadvantages of mustard as a green manure is its propensity to harbor club root.

Phytoremediation

This plant is used in phytoremediation to remove heavy metals, such as lead, from the soil in hazardous waste sites because it has a higher tolerance for these substances and stores the heavy metals in its cells. In particular, Schneider et al. found that Brassica juncea was particularly effective at removing cadmium from soil. Removal of heavy metals concludes with the plant being harvested and properly discarded. Phytoremediation has been shown to be cheaper and easier than traditional methods for heavy metal reduction in soils. In addition, it has the added benefit of reducing soil erosion, reducing cross-site contamination.

See also

• Brassica rapa – related family of edible greens used in Asian cooking
• Brassica nigra – black mustard, another mustard variety
• Sinapis alba (formerly Brassica alba) – yellow or white mustard, another mustard variety
• Brassica carinata – Ethiopian mustard
• Brassica oleracea – wild cabbage

For other edible plants in the family Brassicaceae, see cruciferous vegetables.

Further reading

• ISBN 0-89672-614-2

External links

• PROTAbase on Brassica juncea
• Brassica juncea
• Multilingual taxonomic information from the University of Melbourne
• Mustard Green Manures: Washington State University Extension paper on cover crops.