This section is from the book "A Manual of Materia Medica and Pharmacology", by David M. R. Culbreth. Also available from Amazon: Manual of Materia Medica and Pharmacology.
1. Sinapis Alba. White Mustard.
2. Sinapis Nigra. Black Mustard.
1. Sinapis alba, Linne.
2. Brassica nigra, (Linne) Koch.
The ripe seeds, with not more than 5 p. c. of other seeds, foreign matter.
Habitat. Asia, S. Europe, cultivated in gardens; wild in United States.
Syn. 1. Sinap. Alb., Yellow Mustard, Charlock, Kedlock; Sinapis Albae Semina; Fr. Moutarde blanche; Ger. Semen Erucae, Weisser Senfsamen. 2. Sinap. Nig., Brown Mustard, Cadlock, Kerlock; Sinapis Nigrae Semina; Fr. Moutarde noire (grise); Ger. Semen Sinapis, Schwarzer Senf, Senfsamen.
Si-na'pis. L. fr. Gr.
Celtic nap, a turnip. Bras'si-ca. L. tor cabbage, fr. Celtic bresic, cabbage - i. e., the fruit resemblance.
Al'ba. L. albus, white - i. e., the seed.
Ni'gra. L. niger, black - i. e., the seed.
Mus'tard. L. mustum, must - i. e., seeds were once pounded with must or vinegar.
Plants. - Sinapis alba, erect annual, .6 M. (2°) high, branches few, ascending, stiff, green, bristly, with reflexed hairs; leaves stalked, pinnatifid, hairy, 3-lobed, dentate; flowers June, yellow, racemes; fruit silique, 2.5-4 Cm. (1-1 3/5') long, 5 Mm. (1/5') broad, constricted, terete, bristly, beak long, sword-shaped, 4-6-seeded, dehiscing by 2 valves; roots fusiform, thin, branching; Brassica nigra, similar to preceding, except higher, 1.3 M. (4°), smooth above, leaves irregularly pinnatifid, fairtly toothed, flowers half as large, 6 Mm. (1/4') broad; fruit 18 Mm. (3/4') long, 1 Mm. (1/25') broad, appressed, somewhat quadrangular, beak short, tapering, 3-7-seeded. Seeds (S. alba), subglobular, 1.5-2.5 Mm. '(1/16-1/10') broad; testa yellowish, nearly smooth; embryo yellowish, oily, 2 large cotyledons; inodorous; taste mildly pungent, acrid; (B. nigra), ellipsoidal, irregularly spheroidal, 1-1.6 Mm. (1/25 - 1/16') broad; testa reddish-brown, minutely pitted (reticulate); embryo yellow, oily, 2 large cotyledons; odor slight (dry), on moistening very irritating; taste strongly pungent, acrid. Powder, yellowish, brownish, greenish-brown, slight odor on moistening, or strongly pungent, irritating, characteristic odor (B. nigra); microscopi-
Fig. 151. - Brassica nigra: 1, flower; 2, pistil and stamens; 3, pistil; 4. silique; 5, cross-section of same; 6, seed; a, stamen; st, stigma; g, pistil carpels; d, nectar tubes; r, replum.
cally - numerous tissues of embryo, the cells containing small aleurone grains and fixed oil, the latter forming in large globules on adding hydrated chloral T. S.; fragments of seed-coat few or conspicuous, with characteristic stone cells, epidermal cells with mucilaginous walls; few or no starch grains. Test: 1. Distil with steam - allyl isothio-cynate with black, but none with white mustard. Should be kept, when powdered, in tightlv-closed containers. Solvents: water; alcohol slightly. Dose, gr. 15-60 (1-4 Gm.).
a.
b.
c.
Fig. 152. - Sinapis, magnified: a, transverse section; &, embryo; c, entire seed.
Adulterations. - Seeds (white and black): Those of allied species - radish, turnip, rape, the latter most common, but easily recognized by larger size and peculiar bluish-red tint; Powder: Flour, starchy substances (blue with iodine), turmeric - rendering white mustard whiter (reddish-brown with borax or boric acid), red pepper (increasing pungency), sawdust (microscope); out of 27 samples examined only 8 were free of admixtures; white mustard recognized by not giving pungent fumes when mixed with water unless heated; Oil:
Alcohol, carbon disulphide, castor oil, petroleum, artificial allyl isosulphocyanate, etc.
Commercial. - Plants are cultivated largely in England, United States, etc., and grow wild - the white occasionally, the black commonly. The seeds of each on grinding and sifting yield a yellow powder of characteristic odor and taste, and by mixing equal quantities of the two is obtained mustard, flour of mustard (Sinapis, Br.), which by trituration with water (vinegar) and spices yields the semi-solid French mustard.
Constituents. - White mustard: Fixed oil 20-25 p. c, Sinalbin, Sinapine sulphocyanide, lecithin, albumin 28 p. c, gum and mucilage 19 p. c. (mainly in testa), myrosin, other proteids, starch, 1-2.5 p. c, ash 4-9 p. c. Black mustard: Fixed oil 30-35 p. c, Sinigrin (potassium myronate) .7-1.3 p. c, Sinapine sulphocyanide, lecithin, albumin 30 p. c, gum and mucilage 20 p. c. (mainly in testa), myrosin, other proteids, starch 1-2.5 p. c, ash 4-9 p. c.
Fixed Oil. - Obtained by crushing seeds and expressing; it is yellowish-green, non-drying, sp. gr. 0.916, congeals - 18° C. (0° F.), slight odor, bland, mild taste; consists of glycerides of oleic, stearic, erucic, and behenic acids.
Sinapine. - Alkaloid, here only as sulphocyanide, in colorless, bitter prisms, soluble in water, alcohol. Sinapine boiled with alkalies gives choline or sinkaline, C5H15NO2, and sinapic acid, C11H12O5.
Myrosin. - This ferment is an albuminoid body that becomes inert at 70° C. (158° F.), hence mustard heated to this point will not yield the volatile oil, owing to which the plasters should not be moistened with water warmer than the body temperature.
Sinalbin. - C30H44N2S2O16. - Extracted by alcohol; it is in colorless prisms, soluble in water, sparingly in alcohol, yellow by alkali, red with nitric acid; in the presence of water the ferment myrosin acts upon it, yielding glucose, C6H12O6, sinapine sulphate, C16H23NO5.H2SO4, and acrinyl sulphocyanide, C7H7O.NCS (yellow, acrid, non-volatile oil), soluble in alcohol, ether.
Sinigrin, KC10H18NS2O10. - Silky, white needles, or golden-yellow crystals, soluble in water, slightly in alcohol, insoluble in ether, chloroform;, with water and the ferment myrosin it splits into glucose, acid potassium sulphate, and allyl sulphocyanide (isosulphocyanate - volatile oil of mustard) .5-1 p. c.
Oleum Sinapis Volatile. Volatile Oil of Mustard, official. - (Syn., 01. Sinap. Vol., Mustard Oil, Oleum Sinapis AEthereum, Oil of Mustard; Fr. Essence de Moutarde; Oleum Sinapis, Senfol, AEtherisches Senfol.) This oil, like oil of bitter almond and to a great extent oil of gaultheria, does not preexist in the plant, being obtained by macerating with warm water the crushed black mustard seeds (B. nigra or B. juncea), after the removal of fixed oil by expression, when a reaction (fermentation) sets in between sinigrin (potassium myronate) and myrosin (albuminoid ferment), provided the temperature does not exceed 70° C. (158° F.), at which the ferment becomes inert and ceases to act KC10H16NS2O9 (sinigrin) + H2O = C3H5NCS (volatile oil of mustard) + C6H12O6 (dextrose) + KHSO4; also have formed allyl cyanide, carbon disulphide, allyl thiocyanate, and higher boiling compounds, which arc always in the oil; when fermentation is completed the mixture is distilled with steam; this oil also is produced to a large extent synthetically by decomposing allyl iodide, C3H5O, with potassium sulphocya-oate in alcoholic solution. It is a colorless, pale yellow, strongly retractive liquid, very pungent, irritating odor, acrid taste (in both exercise great caution, examining it only when highly diluted), optically inactive, sp. gr. 1.020, soluble in alcohol, volatile at 150° C. (302° F.); contains at least 92 p. c. of allyl isothiocyanate (isosulpho-cyanate), with traces of allyl cyanide, carbon disulphide, etc. Tests: f. Distils completely between 148-154° C. (298-310° F.), first and last portions having nearly the same sp. gr. as original oil (abs. of alcohol, chloroform, petroleum, fatty oils). 2. Dilute oil with alcohol (2-3 vols.) + a drop of ferric chloride T. S. - no blue color (abs. of phenols). The label must indicate definitely its specific source, whether from black mustard or made synthetically. Should be kept cool, dark, in well-stoppered, amber-colored bottles. Dose, 1/8-1/4 (.008-.016 Ml. (Cc.)).
Preparations. - Black Mustard: 1. Emplastrum Sinapis. Mustard Plaster. (Syn., Emp. Sinap., Charta Sinapis, U. S. P. 1900, Mustard Paper; Fr. Papier moutarde (sinapise), Moutarde en feuilles; Ger. Charta sinapisata, Senf papier.)
Manufacture: Percolate black mustard 100 Gm. with petroleum ben-zin until percolate gives no greasy stain on blotting paper, dry the powder; dissolve rubber 10 Gm. in petroleum benzin and carbon disulphide each 100 Ml. (Cc.), and with this mix the purified mustard to produce a semi-liquid magma, spread on paper, cotton cloth, or other fabric; it is a uniform mixture of black mustard, deprived of its fixed oil, and a solution of rubber; 100□Cm. contain 2.5 Gm. of black mustard deprived of its fixed oil. Before applying to the skin moisten thoroughly with tepid water, when it will produce a decided warmth and redness within 5 minutes. Should be kept in tightly-closed containers.
Unoff. Preps.: Seed: Infusion, 5 p. c, dose, ad libitum. Oil: Compound Liniment, 3 p. c, + mezereum (fldext.) 20, camphor 6, castor oil 15, alcohol q. s. Linimentum Sinapis (Br.), 3.5 p. c. Spiritus Sinapis (Ger.), 2 p. c.
Properties. - Stimulant, emetic, tonic, diuretic, laxative, rubefacient, irritant, epispastic, carminative, condiment, vesicant; dilates the vessels, causing redness, warmth, and irritates sensory nerves, giving burning pain.
Uses. - Atonic dyspepsia with constipation, delirium tremens, atonic dropsy, hiccough, narcotic poisoning. Externally - rheumatism, gout, atrophy, neuralgia, colic, gastralgia, inflammation of throat or lungs, toothache, earache, headache, vomiting, diarrhoea, dysentery, amenorrhoea, dysmenorrhoea, stimulant to heart, respiration, and vascular system.
For mild action: Dilute mustard with equal quantity of flaxseed meal or flour, and make with water into a pasty plaster - poultice, cataplasm, or sinapism; should be applied enveloped in very thin muslin to prevent sticking, and is superseded almost entirely by the whole- and half-strength mustard leaves, which, in order to use, should be dipped into warm water for 15 seconds and applied for 1/2-l hour. The volatile oil may be used locally, well diluted (3ss; 2 Ml. (Cc.)) + Stokes' liniment, alcohol, or almond oil ℥ij; 60 Ml. (Cc.)). Good in scabies, hysteria, swooning convulsions.
Mustard foot-baths, valuable in headache, cerebral and other internal congestion, pneumonia, amenorrhoea, for diaphoresis.
The infusion, made by stirring a tablespoonful to a cream with warm water, is a popular emetic in poisoning, etc., giving the entire mixture.
Allied Plants:
 
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