Mustard is an annual salad plant. Its leaves with a slight bitterness are one of the most nutritious first green salad vegetables, which contain many vitamins and minerals, antioxidant substances. Given its low calorie content, you can eat as much as you want without worrying about calories. But, unfortunately, not many gardeners grow this type of green salad and do not know about its beneficial properties. Let’s get to know her in more detail.
Mustard leaf or synapis is an annual cold-resistant plant that yields in a short time. Within two weeks after sowing, you can get the first vitamin greens. It belongs to the cruciferous family. In the first year, lettuce gives a rosette of leaves. In the second year, the seeds ripen, from which the seasoning of the same name is made – mustard.
Mustard was known as a green salad five thousand years ago. It is believed that the birthplace of this salad culture is the Indian Himalayas. Although she was known in many other countries.
Today it is grown all over the world and mainly for the sake of obtaining seeds, which serve not only as a basis for seasoning, but also for medicinal purposes.
Today there are many different varieties of mustard with leaves of different shapes (smooth and wavy) and colors (from green to dark red). Young tender leaves, which are used as a green salad, are collected in a rosette, the height of which can reach up to 60 centimeters. With further development, the plant can grow up to 1-1.5 meters with further development of peduncles and seed ripening.
Mustard leaf useful properties
Looking at this type of leafy green lettuce, you can see that it is actually very nutritious in terms of biologically important nutrients. Green lettuce leaves contain significant amounts of:
Vitamin A;
Vitamin K;
Vitamin C;
Folates;
Manganese;
Calcium;
Potassium.
It is slightly inferior in terms of the content of vitamin E, vitamin B6, phosphorus, copper.
In addition to mineral and vitamin substances, it is present in mustard:
Protein;
Carbohydrates;
Alimentary fiber.
There is no fat in the leaves. It is contained only in seeds, because the calorie content per 100 grams of greens is extremely low – only 27 calories.
All of these nutrients are extremely beneficial to the human body and can help prevent disease.
Dietary fiber lowers cholesterol levels by interfering with its absorption in the intestines. They improve the work of the intestinal tract, thereby preventing the appearance of constipation and, as a result, hemorrhoids, colon cancer.
100 grams of mustard leaves contain a whopping 257.5 micrograms of vitamin K. This is almost 215 percent of the body’s daily requirement for this vitamin. In addition to blood clotting, this vitamin is important for bone tissue, plays a role in preserving the neurons in the brain, protecting them from various damage. And this, in turn, can serve as the prevention of Alzheimer’s disease.
Fresh lettuce contains several B vitamins such as folic acid, pyridoxine, thiamine, riboflavin, which are collectively referred to as folates.
100 grams contains 3 percent of the adult daily value of folate. Not much, but this water-soluble vitamin is important for DNA synthesis and cell division.
Fresh leaves are an excellent source of vitamin C. 100 grams contains 70 micrograms, or 117 percent of the DV. Vitamin C is a powerful antioxidant that protects against free radicals, viral diseases, and prevents scurvy.
Vitamin A is also not inferior in content, of which 100 grams contains 101 percent of the daily requirement of an adult. Vitamin A is also an antioxidant, an essential nutrient that is essential for maintaining mucous membranes. The use of such products serves to prevent cancer of the oral cavity and lungs.
In addition to antioxidant vitamins, mustard leaf is a source of other antioxidant compounds, such as flavonoids, carotene, lutein, zeaxanthin, indole, sulforaphane. According to scientific research, indoles (aromatic substances) and sulforaphane can be used to prevent cancer of the prostate, breast, colon, and ovaries. They can inhibit the growth of cancer cells by exerting a cytotoxic (damaging) effect on them.
Mustard leaf benefit
The use of salad will be useful for prevention:
Cardiovascular disease;
Diabetes;
Cancer;
Diseases of the gastrointestinal tract;
Obesity;
Arthritis;
Osteoporosis;
Iron deficiency anemia.
It is useful to include it in your diet when losing weight, since it has no calories, but a lot of nutrients, which are sometimes not enough with a limited diet.
Mustard greens are great for cleansing the liver, as the leaves are high in chlorophyll. Chlorophyll has the ability to literally remove toxins from the blood, neutralize the effects of heavy metals, chemicals, pesticides. It may play an essential role in cancer prevention.
The liver uses cholesterol to make bile acids, which are needed to break down fats. While the liver produces primary bile acids, the intestine produces secondary bile acids.
Bile is needed to digest fat, otherwise we will all suffer from constipation. Nevertheless, it must be in a certain balance in the body. People who have high cholesterol either produce little bile or have difficulty converting cholesterol into bile. This may be due to a high intake of fatty foods and insufficient intake of dark greens, or a malfunction of the liver and intestines.
Eating green lettuce such as mustard and other greens helps the liver produce enough bile, thereby lowering bad cholesterol levels. Recent research shows that mustard has a higher cholesterol-lowering ability when steamed compared to fresh herbs.
How to choose and store mustard leaf
Mustard as a salad plant is easy to grow even at home. But if this is not possible, then when buying on the market, first of all, you need to pay attention to the freshness of the leaves. They should be evenly colored, without light or dark spots, traces of deterioration. Light or yellow leaves may indicate that they have been collected for a long time. There is no benefit in such a salad.
You need to store the salad in the refrigerator for no more than three days. It is better to immediately wash the leaves, dry them and transfer them to a container with a lid. In general, any fresh herbs are best consumed immediately. Then you can get the maximum amount of beneficial nutrients.
Mustard leaf use in cooking
Mustard is grown in many countries as a salad plant and is used for other purposes to obtain the seeds from which mustard oil is made.
Mustard oil is considered one of the best vegetable oils and is used in cooking, canning, and baking. It is also added in the production of some types of margarine.
There are many ways to apply mustard greens. Each country has its own unique ways of incorporating this nutritious, healthy green salad into a variety of dishes. For example, in Africa, mustard greens are added to fish. In India it is pickled. Leaves are added to rice, served with toasted bread.
Leaves should be rinsed well with cold water before cooking to remove sand and other debris. Then place them in salt water for at least half an hour. This technique will help remove pesticides and other harmful substances. Then cut off the leaf stalks.
Fresh herbs can be added to salad with other green leafy salads: spinach, fenugreek, and more. You can add garlic, onions, tomatoes, red peppers to it.
It goes well with cucumbers, apples, ginger, lemon, cabbage. It is served with meat dishes of beef, chicken and other poultry, bacon, pork. Mustard is added to soups and green borscht. There are many options. The spicy taste of mustard, combined with the milder flavors and aromas of other vegetables and salads, can provide a balanced flavor to a dish. Not everyone likes mustard precisely because of its hot-spicy taste. It is spicier than other green salads. Mild to neutral greens can be added to soften the taste.
Instead of boiling, the leaves are best fried or steamed.
Mustard leaf contraindications and harm
Like spinach, reheating cooked mustard can cause nitrates to convert to nitrites and nitrosamines. This can be harmful to your health.
A high fiber content in a certain category of people can affect the bioavailability of iron, calcium, magnesium.
People who are taking medications to thin the blood should refrain from consuming mustard, as it increases the concentration of vitamin K.
Like spinach, mustard leaves contain oxalic acid, which can crystallize as oxalate stones. People who suffer from kidney or bladder stones should avoid consuming it.
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