White Mustard

#### Mustard, White. For the sake of completeness, the seeds of **Brassica Alba**, known in Europe as "**Yellow**** ****Mustard**", elsewhere as "**White Mustard**", shall be mentioned briefly. The seeds do not contain any volatile oil, and they do not produce any volatile substances even when treated as described under **Black Mustard **(enzymatic hydrolysis). However, an enzymatic hydrolysis of white mustard seed will produce a very pungent material: **Acrinyl**** ****Isothiocyanate**, also known as para-hydroxybenzyl isothiocyanate. This material is practically nonvolatile with steam. Consequently, **White**** ****Mustard** - is a poorer rubefacient in household medicine, - produces an almost odorless, non-aromatic triturate with water—and - is not lachrymatory when treated with water. The mixture of crushed white mustard, vinegar and salt in water is known as **English**** ****Prepared**** ****Mustard**. This mixture, as well as other triturates of white mustard, is strongly pungent and also skin-irritating, although less so than are the black mustard preparations. **White**** ****Mustard**** **is used for its pungency when triturated as described above. It is often mixed with crushed black mustard in order to produce a powerful, aromatic-rich mustard-seasoning. **White**** ****Mustard**** **is cultivated in many European countries in order to produce the fatty ("fixed") oil from the seeds by hydraulic expressing. The yield of fixed oil is about 20 to 25%. This oil must be purified from any trace of the above pungent material prior to use as a cooking oil. In addition, the white mustard plant acts as a soil-conditioner. The plant is grown as an in-between-crop, and then is plowed down into the soil where its abundant foliage re-conditions the soil.