Mustard oil (pressed), used in India as a cooking oil. Also used as a massage oil.[55]
[size=75]From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia [/size]
The term mustard oil is used for two different oils that are made from mustard seeds:
This oil has a strong smell, a little like strong cabbage, a hot nutty taste, and is much used for cooking in Bengal, Bihar, Kashmir, Punjab and other areas of India and Bangladesh. The oil makes up about 30% of the mustard seeds. It can be produced from black mustard (Brassica nigra), brown Indian mustard (Brassica juncea), and white mustard (Brassica hirta).
Mustard oil is composed mostly of the fatty acids oleic acid, linoleic acid and erucic acid. At 5%, mustard seed oil has the lowest saturated fat content of the edible oils.
Due to its high content of erucic acid, which is considered noxious, mustard oil is not considered suitable for human consumption in the United States, Canada and the European Union, although mustard oil with a low content of erucic acid is available. In India, mustard oil is generally heated almost to smoking before it is used for cooking; this may be an attempt to reduce the content of noxious substances, and does reduce the strong smell and taste.
In North India, mustard oil is also used for rub-downs and massages (see ayurveda). Massage with the oil is thought to improve blood circulation, muscular development and good texture to human skin; the oil is also antibacterial. To get around the restriction in Western countries, the oil is often sold “for external use only” in stores catering to Indian immigrants.
In India the restrictions on mustard oil are viewed as an attempt by foreign multi-national corporations to replace mustard oil with canola oil, a variety of rapeseed with a low erucic acid content. But for North Indians, mustard oil is not just a cooking medium but it is very much intricately interwoven with their culture. They have been using it for ages and dispute that there is enough evidence for the toxicity of erucic acid, instead maintaining that mustard oil is beneficial to human health because of its low content of saturated fats, ideal ratio of omega-3 and omega 6 fatty acids (15g of omega 3 fats per 100g serve), content of antioxidants and vitamin E, as well as the fact that it is cold pressed (extracted at 45-50 degrees Celsius).
The pungent taste of the mustard condiment results when ground mustard seeds are mixed with water, vinegar, or other liquids (or when they are chewed). Under these conditions, a chemical reaction between the enzyme myrosinase and a glucosinolate known as sinigrin from the seeds of black mustard (Brassica nigra) or brown Indian mustard (Brassica juncea) leads to the production of allyl isothiocyanate. By distillation one can produce a very sharp tasting essential oil, sometimes called volatile oil of mustard, that contains more than 92% of allyl isothiocyanate. The white mustard Brassica hirta does not give allyl isothiocyanate, but a different and milder isothiocyanate.