White Mustard (Sinapis alba L.)
Cabbage family
(Brassicaceae)
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Young mustard crop
| mustard crop in flower
| mustard plant with flowers and fruit
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Source: Schreiner, W.,Landw. Nutzpfl. in Wort u. Bild, DLG Verlag 1990; Bock D., MPI Köln
Distribution, Yield, Use:
- Distribution:
The most important production areas are
West Europe, Sweden, Canada, Northern
regions of the USA, Near East to India.
Prefers calcareous loamy soil with a uniform
water supply.
- Yield:
20-30 dt/ha Seed
250-350 dt/ha green matter
- Use:
- seeds for spices, French mustard, oil
- green matter as animal feed, compost.
At 30% fat, the seeds contain
1.5-2.5% sinalbin.
The green matter contains
15% dry mass, comprising
2-3% protein, 5-8% carbohydrate,
1.5-3% crude fibre.
Region of origin:
Region of cultivation:
- Cultivation and Breeding:
White mustard is presumed to have its origins in the South-East mediterranean area. It was used by ancient civilisations 2000 years BC as an oil, spice, and medicinal plant and was introduced into Western and Northern Europe in the early Middle Ages. White mustard is cultivated in warm regions primarily for seed production, whilst in cool, temperate zones it is grown as a break crop, for forage or as green manure. The breeding of nematode-resistant varieties has allowed White mustard to be grown following the beet harvest. For particular technical uses (e.g. surfactants), varieties with especially high erucic acid content in the seed oil are of interest.
- Breeding aims:
For animal feed and green manure, the breeding aims concentrate on achieving a high leaf production and resistance to beet nematodes. Animal feed varieties must produce a low mustard oil content. In contrast, varieties for spice and mustard production should contain much sinalbin.
Text by
Dr. Wolfgang Schuchert
Adapted to HTML by R.Saedler