ABOUT 'BRASSICA INTEGRIFOLIA' PLANT
Brassica integrifolia
FAMILY:- CRUCIFERAE
BOTANICAL NAME:- Brassica integrifolia
VERNACULAR NAMES :
SINHALA : Aba
TAMIL : Kadugu
ENGLISH : Indian Mustard
DESCRIPTION :
Erect annual herb with a stem 0.4-1.0 m high, glabrous or with a few bristles at the base, much branched, often purplish up to the pedicels.
LEAVES:- Large, pinnatifid without basal lobes,terminal lobe much the largest basal leaves long, persistent, 5-10 cm long, broadly obovate.
FLOWERS:- Regular, bisexual, yellow, 6-8 mm long, in long rasemes. Seeds-beak narrowly conical, seedless nearly 1.2 cm long, 1-1.3 mm diameter (Jayaweera, 1980)
DISTRIBUTION:
It grows from Egypt to China and is often cultivated in India. In Sri Lanka, it grows as a weed in vegetable plantations (Jayaweera, 1980).
EDIBLE PARTS : Seeds, young leaves.
FOOD USE : They are used as an ingredient for pickles and seed oil is used in food preparation. Mustard sauce is made from seeds. Seed oil is used as a cooking oil. Leaves are eaten as a green vegetable.
NUTRITIONAL AND THERAPEUTIC VALUE :
Moisture - 8.5 g,
Energy - 541 kcal,
Proteins - 20 g,
Fats - 39.7 g,
Carbohydrates 23.8 g,
Calcium - 490 meg,
Phosphorus - 700 mg,
Iron - 17.9 mg,
Carotene - 162 mg,
Thiamine - 650 meg,
Riboflavin - 260 meg,
Niacin-4.0 mg, Vitamin C-0 g
The pale yellow oil extracted from the seed contains sinigrin. The leaves contain Calcium, Phosphorus, Iron and Vitamin B. A plaster of ground mustard seed applied externally relieves pain due to pleurodynia, pleuritis, hepatitis, gastralgia, lumbago and is used as a counter-irritant in inflammatory conditions of the viscera. Applied to the nape of the neck, it prevents cerebral congestion. To check convulsions in children, the patient is immersed in a mustard bath (Jayaweera, 1980).
ENVIRONMENTAL RESPONSE:
Mustard is adopted to widely different climatic conditions. Requires low or moderate rainfall. Grows in all classes of soils except very heavy clays.
CULTIVATION:
Areas of cultivation - Dry zone of Sri Lanka.
Planting season - Maha season.
Planting material - Seeds
Planting and spacing - normally cultiated in chenas as a mixed crop with finger millet. When grown as a pure crop, seeds may be drilled in rows, 20 cm apart.
Harvesting - Harvest can be obtained after 90-100 days.
Yeilds - Pure crop will give about 200 - 250 kg to 400 - 500 kg/ha.
STORAGE :
Seeds can be stored for a long time in dry containers.
0 Comments