MUSTARD OIL (SARSON TEL) SALONI/ENGINE/MASHAL
- A fatty vegetable oil resulting from pressing the seeds,
- An essential oil resulting from grinding the seeds, mixing them with water, and extracting the resulting volatile oil by distillation .
- An oil made by infusing mustard seed extract into another vegetable oil, such as soybean oil
The term mustard oil is used for three different oils that are made from mustard seeds
The pungency of mustard oil is due to the presence of allyl isothiocyanate , an activator of the TRPA1 channel.
Pure oil
This oil has a distinctive pungent taste, characteristic of all plants in the mustard (Brassicaceae) family (for example, cabbage, cauliflower, turnip, radish, horseradish or wasabi). It is often used for cooking in North India, Eastern India, Nepal, Bangladesh and Pakistan. In Bengal, Orissa, Assam and Nepal, it is the traditionally preferred oil for cooking. 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).
The characteristic pungent flavour of mustard oil is due to Allyl isothiocyanate. Mustard oil has about 60% monounsaturated fatty acids (42% erucic acid and 12% oleic acid); it has about 21% polyunsaturated fats (6% the omega-3 alpha-linolenic acid and 15% the omega-6 linoleic acid), and it has about 12% saturated fats.
Mustard seeds, like all seeds of the Brassica family, including canola (rapeseed) and turnip, have high levels of omega-3 (6–11%) and are a common, cheap, mass-produced source of plant-based (therefore, vegetarian) omega-3 fatty acids (see Indo-Mediterranean diet in the links below). Flax (linseed) oil has 55% plant-based omega-3 but is uncommon as a table or cooking oil. Soybean oil has 6% omega-3 but contains over 50% omega-6, the fatty acid that competes with the omega-3 function. Other than rapeseed and mustard oils, there are few other common sources of plant based omega-3 in Western and Indian diets. Especially when omega-6 intake is kept low, humans can convert the plant omega-3 into one of the fish omega-3s, eicosapentaenoic acid, in limited amounts, a useful source for vegetarians.
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