Volatile Mustard Oils of Brassica juncea Seeds

Abstract

Brassica juncea Coss. and Czern. is an important cultivated mustard species. It is said to be a native of Asia and is grown particularly in China, Japan, India, Pakistan, Nepal and eastern Europe as a vegetable and an oil-seed crop, although it has also been introduced into North America and certain West European countries as an oil-seed crop and for use in the manufacture of condiments⁵. The species is of botanical interest in that it shows marked variation in external morphology, especially leaf form¹. Variation, too, has been reported in the type of volatile oil produced on the hydrolysis of the seed glucoside; three conditions have been described: (a) the production of allyl isothiocyanate only^2,4; (b) the production of 3-butenyl (= ‘crotonyl’) isothiocyanate only⁴; (c) the production of a mixture of allyl and 3-butenyl isothiocyanates².