2024 Author: Gavin MacAdam | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-16 13:38
Black mustard (Latin Brassica nigra) Is an annual herb of the Cabbage family. The plant is known under the names mustard real or French mustard. Natural range - North Africa, Southwest and Central Europe, Central Asia, North Australia, South and North America. On the territory of Russia, black mustard grows in the Crimea and the Volga region. Typical locations are river banks, fields, roadsides and areas with little debris. The plant is cultivated to obtain essential oil and mustard powder.
Characteristics of culture
Black mustard is a herbaceous plant with an erect, highly branched, bare stem from 30 to 100 cm in height, sometimes 240 cm. The shoots are thin, with anthocyanin spots in the axils. The lower leaves are lyre-shaped, green, petiolate, have a large notched-toothed apical lobe; the upper ones are entire, lanceolate. The flowers are small, bright yellow or pale yellow, collected in rare brushes. Petals with a bend, taper into a marigold. Pedicel 2.5-8.5 cm long, remains with the fetus.
The fruit is a tetrahedral, clearly lumpy pod pressed to the stem with a short and thin spout about 1.5-4.7 mm long. Seeds are reddish-brown or dark-brown, small, spherical, fine-cellular, 1.0-1.6 mm in diameter. Black mustard blooms in June - July, fruits ripen in August - September, depending on climatic conditions. According to the description, black mustard is similar to Sarepta mustard, it differs only in the color of the seeds and pressed pods.
Growing conditions
Black mustard is unpretentious, accepts any types of soil, except for poor sandy, waterlogged, saline and waterlogged. The culture is demanding for moisture supply. The optimum temperature is 20-25C. Seedlings and young plants are able to withstand short-term frosts down to -5C without any problems. Black mustard is considered a long day plant.
Site preparation and sowing
The area for mustard is prepared in the fall: the soil is carefully dug up and fed with organic matter, in the spring the ridges are loosened with a rake and mineral fertilizers are applied. Sow black mustard in a row method with an interval of 20-25 cm or continuous sowing. Seeding rate 3.5-4 g per square meter. The culture is characterized by rapid growth, so it can be sown in 3-5 terms. You can sow mustard after harvesting the main crop. The growing season is 2-2.5 months, these terms should be taken into account during the last sowing. Black mustard seeds germinate at a temperature of 5-6C, usually 3-5 days after sowing.
Care
With the appearance of 2-3 true leaves on the shoots, the crops are thinned, leaving a distance between the plants of 10-15 cm. If the mustard is intended for obtaining seeds, the distance is increased to 20-25 cm. Further care is reduced to watering, fertilizing and weeding. The bevel of the green mass is carried out before the onset of flowering.
Application
Essential oil is obtained from mustard seeds, the components of which are allyl cyanide, carbon disulfide and allyl mustard oil. The seeds also contain oleic, erucic, linoleic, lignoceric, palmitic and linoleic acids. Mustard oils are used for technical and food purposes.
The seeds of the plant are used for the preparation of Dijon mustard, mustard plasters, and others. This type is also used in soap making. Young leaves of black mustard are considered an excellent seasoning for a wide variety of dishes. In some countries, stems, flowers and leaves are found in cheeses. In medicine, mustard is used to treat lung diseases, neuralgia and rheumatism.
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