🇸🇦 Arabicar
بذور الخردل
budhur al-khardal
Prairie Provinces, CA
Mustard Seed
3 species
commercial mustards
black, brown, yellow/white
1-2%
essential oil yield
of dry seed (post-hydrolysis)
Canada #1
top exporter
Saskatchewan prairies lead global trade
5000 y
of recorded use
Indus Valley and Sumerian texts
Visual atlas
Profile
Mustard seed is a three-species problem: yellow Sinapis alba, the mild one that fills American ballpark squeeze bottles; brown Brassica juncea, the Indian rai that powers Dijon and every tadka from Kerala to Kolkata; and black Brassica nigra, the rare, shattering-prone ancestor still used in old-style French grainy mustards. All three are Brassicaceae and all three are inert until you hurt them. Crushing and wetting the seed activates the enzyme myrosinase on the glucosinolates sinigrin and sinalbin, generating allyl isothiocyanate, the pungent volatile that burns the nose rather than the tongue. Cold water keeps the heat; hot water or vinegar kills it. Canada is the world's largest exporter, with Saskatchewan and Alberta supplying most of the global brown and yellow crop.
Origin
Prairie Provinces, CA.
CA
Prairie Provinces · Saskatoon, Saskatchewan (Canada)
Process
01May
Sowing
Brown and yellow mustard go into Canadian prairie soil shallow; germination in 4-7 days. Black mustard (Brassica nigra) is now rarely farmed at scale - it shatters too easily.
02June
Yellow flowering
Fields of yellow cruciferous flowers attract honeybees. Pollinators drive up to 20% of yield. Seed set starts within weeks.
03July
Pod fill
Tiny siliques form along the stem, each holding 10-15 spherical seeds. Yellow mustard (Sinapis alba) produces pale cream seeds; brown (B. juncea) gives reddish-brown.
04August
Swathing
When pods turn brown, farmers swath the field - cut and let dry in windrows for 7-10 days. Cutting standing mustard shatters the crop.
05Threshing
Cold, dry
Combine harvesters thresh at seed moisture 8-10%. Over 12% and seed moulds; under 7% and it shatters on the auger.
06Your jar
Whole, dormant
Dry seed is flavourless. Myrosinase and sinigrin/sinalbin wait until you crack and wet them - only then does the isothiocyanate bomb detonate. Crack fresh, wait 10 minutes, then cook.
Inside the berry
The molecules that make it taste like Kampot — and not like anything else.
Dry mustard is flavourless. Water triggers myrosinase, which cleaves sinigrin into allyl isothiocyanate (black/brown, pungent volatile - attacks the nose) or sinalbin into p-hydroxybenzyl isothiocyanate (yellow/white, non-volatile - lingers on the tongue). That chemistry separates Dijon from ballpark yellow.
0.5-2%
Sinigrin (B. juncea)
dry seed, glucosinolate precursor
1-3%
Sinalbin (S. alba)
dry seed, yellow-mustard precursor
10 min
Hydrolysis window
full ITC release after crushing in water
65 C
Enzyme kill
heat above this stops further heat development
Volatile compound profile
- Allyl isothiocyanate45.0%
Sharp, volatile, nose-burning - Dijon heat.
- p-Hydroxybenzyl ITC25.0%
Non-volatile, tongue-lingering yellow heat.
- Sinigrin (pre-hydrolysis)15.0%
Tasteless precursor in brown seed.
- Sinalbin (pre-hydrolysis)10.0%
Tasteless precursor in yellow seed.
- Fixed fatty oil3.0%
Carrier, body in prepared mustards.
- Mucilage2.0%
Thickens water-mustard slurries.
Versus other peppers
| Pepper | ITC | Oil |
|---|---|---|
★ Brown mustard (B. juncea) Dijon and Indian kitchens - pungent volatile | AITC 45% | 1.5% |
Yellow mustard (S. alba) American ballpark - mild, lingering | pHBITC 25% | 1.0% |
Black mustard (B. nigra) Traditional European - rare now, shatters badly | AITC 50% | 1.8% |
Horseradish (for contrast) Same ITC, fresh root only | AITC ~100% | 0.5% |
Wasabi (for contrast) Related ITC, volatile and unstable | 6-MITC | trace |
Cuisines
How the world cooks with it.
3 signature dishes
Dijon PGI demands brown mustard (B. juncea) milled with verjuice or white wine. Since 1937, the name protects a method: fine grind, controlled hydrolysis, no turmeric. The heat is sharp, volatile, Burgundian.
- Lapin a la moutardegrade: brown-mustard
Rabbit braised with Dijon, cream and tarragon - the bistro classic.
- Vinaigrettegrade: brown-mustard
One teaspoon Dijon emulsifies three tablespoons oil with one of vinegar.
- Moutarde violettegrade: brown-mustard
Brive's grape-must mustard, darker and sweeter than Dijon.
Around the world
What it's called, from Phnom Penh to Palermo.
🇨🇳 Chinesezh
芥菜籽
jie cai zi
🇬🇧 Englishen
Mustard Seed
🇫🇷 Frenchfr
Graines de moutarde
🇩🇪 Germande
Senfsamen
🇮🇳 Hindihi
राई
rai
🇮🇹 Italianit
Semi di senape
🇯🇵 Japaneseja
マスタードシード
masutaado shiido
🇵🇹 Portuguesept
Sementes de mostarda
🇪🇸 Spanishes
Semillas de mostaza
Seasonality
Jan
Feb
Mar
Apr
May
Jun
Jul
Aug
Sep
Oct
Nov
Dec
Peak Canadian harvestEarly harvestStored, available
Pairings
Protein
- Hot dogs and sausages
- Smoked mackerel
- Roast pork and lamb
Plant
- Sauerkraut
Substitutes
- Horseradish (fresh)70% match
- Real wasabi65% match· soon
Frequent questions
Three commercial species. Yellow/white (Sinapis alba) - mild, turmeric-less American-style. Brown (Brassica juncea) - the Dijon and Indian kitchen default, pungent and volatile. Black (Brassica nigra) - traditional, hottest, now rarely farmed because the pods shatter at the slightest touch.