Botanical Index No. 125

Black Mustard

brassica nigra

Medicinal Actions

Analgesic, Antidote, Antifertility, Carminative, Diuretic, Emetic, Gastrotonic, Laxative, Pancreatonic, Stimulant, Stomachic, Vesicant

Primary Conditions Treated

Abortifacient narcotics Aperitif Rubefacient Abscess Adenopathy Ague Alopecia Ameba Amenorrhea Angina Anorexia Apoplexy Asthma Bite Bloat Boil Bronchosis Cancer colon liver neck sinew skin spleen throat uterus wrist Cardiopathy Cholera Circulosis Cold Congestion Constipation Cough Cramp CVI Dermatosis Dysentery Dysmenorrhea Dyspepsia Ectoparasite Edema Enterosis Epilepsy Fever Fibroid Fibroma Gas Gastrosis Glaucoma Headache Head Cold Heartburn Hepatosis Hiccup Induration Inflammation Itch Lumbago Lymphoma Meningosis Nervousness Neuralgia Ophthalmia Otosis Pain Pharyngosis Phthisis Pleurisy Polyp Pneumonia Pulmonosis Respirosis Rheumatism Rhinosis Sciatica Sclerosis Sinusosis Snakebite Splenosis Spine Stomachache Sore Throat Toothache Tuberculosis Typhus Uterosis Water Retention Worm

Safety & Contraindications

Class 1; Class 2b. Contraindications: children younger than 6 years; renal disease. Even external poultice should be limited to 5–10 minutes pediatrically, 10–15 minutes for adults, less for sensitive patients. 15–30 minutes plaster can cause severe burns. Millspaugh has said, “unground seeds ... proved dangerous, as they are liable to become impacted in the bowel and set up a fatal inflammation”. Adverse effects: skin and nervous damage. Should not be used for more than 2 weeks. Avoid taking with ammonia-containing products because ammonia with mustard oil yields inactive thiosinamine. Contraindicated in GI ulcers and nephrosis. Overdoses internally cause GI distress. Hyperthyroidism with goiter traced to the use of the isothiocyanates in mustard. Delaneyite nitpickologists will doubtless clamber to put the same goitrogenic warning on all members of the mustard family as well as papaya, caper, and nasturtium.

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