Witnessed by: Ayurveda · Western · Unani
Black Mustard (Brassica nigra), of the Brassicaceae (Cruciferae) family. Erect annual herb bearing slender four-sided pods; native range: Temperate Eurasia and the Mediterranean, long naturalised across the Near East and India. Globally recognized as rajika / rajika-sarshapa in Sanskrit, rai / banarasi rai in Hindi, khardal (خردل) in Arabic, and brown mustard, true mustard in English. The part used is ripe seed. Tiny reddish-brown to black seeds, near odourless and only mildly bitter when whole; moistened and crushed they loose a fierce, tear-drawing pungency as myrosinase frees allyl isothiocyanate from sinigrin.
In this cross-tradition database, we analyze how this substance operates across world medicine systems — tracking its traditional tastes, temperatures, tissue affinities, post-digestive effects, and planetary correspondences across Ayurveda, Unani, and Western herbalism.
BLACK MUSTARD
IDENTITY
Name
- Common
- Black Mustard
- Scientific name
- Brassica nigra (L.) K.Koch
- Family
- Brassicaceae (Cruciferae)
Form
- Part used
- ripe seed
PROPERTIES
Nature
Taste
how the plant declares itself on the tongue
- Ayurveda
- pungent (katu)
- Western
- pungent · acrid
- Unani
- pungent · acrid
Temperature
- Ayurveda
- heating (ushna, tikshna — very)
- Western
- hot
- Unani
- hot & dry (3rd degree)
Affinity
where in the body it travels
Organs / channels
- Western
- skin · lungs · digestion · circulation
- Unani
- stomach · lungs · nerves
PRACTICE
Virtue
Actions
- Ayurveda
- dipana-pachana (kindles digestion), kapha-vata-hara, krimighna (anthelmintic), lekhana (scraping), a rubefacient externally
- Western
- rubefacient, counter-irritant, stimulant, diaphoretic, emetic in large dose
- Unani
- muharrik (stimulant), mohallil (resolvent), jali (detergent), munzij-e-balgham (ripener of phlegm)
Cautions
- Contraindications
- inflamed stomach or skin, high pitta and heat states; a plaster must not be left to blister
- Toxicity
- a vesicant — blisters and ulcerates the skin on prolonged contact; large internal doses are violently emetic and irritant to the gut and kidneys
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