Edible Oils

Health benefits of Mustard Oil and its Side Effects

September 16, 2019

Table of Contents

Introduction

Mustard Oil is very popular and widely utilized in the preparation of a variety of edibles, sauces, pastes, and pickles. Mustard Oil is also used in the industry for shampoo and soap making. Pharmaceutical preparations like capsules, creams, emulsions, fragrances, flavors, intramuscular injections, nasal sprays, ointments, plasters, and a number of cosmetics also use mustard oil. The Main Mustard oil health benefits are it lowers cholesterol and reduces diabetes.

Geographic distribution

Mustard oil is derived from the mustard seed (Brassica nigra- black mustard, Brassica juncea- brown Indian mustard, or Brassica hirta- white mustard) by cold pressing (Kachi Ghani) or mechanical expelling and solvent extraction. This oil is used as cooking oil due to its pungent aroma, hot nutty taste, and various medicinal preparations. The oil is colorless to pale yellow oily liquid with an irritating odor (1).

Common name: Sarson oil.

Mustard is commonly found in Canada, China, Germany, France, Australia, Pakistan, Poland, and India.

Constituents of mustard oil

Important features of Mustard oil

Low calorie
30% protein
Calcium
Phytins
Phenolics
Natural antioxidants like tocopherol
It is also available in an unrefined (cold compressed) form and is relatively stable during cooking at high temperatures so keep in mind always use mustard oil that is GRAS (Generally Recognized As Safe) and does have an approved food use (2).
Mustard oil also contains a rich amount of mono-unsaturated fatty acids, a good ratio of polyunsaturated fatty acids, and the least amount of saturated fatty acids. The composition of Fatty acids is as follows (3).

Saturated fatty acids	16%
	Palmitic acid	4.51%
	Stearic acid	2.78%
Mono Unsaturated fatty acids (MUFA)	50%
Polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA)	37%
MUFA+PUFA	86.18%
	Oleic acid (Omega-9 fatty acid)	38.21%
	Linoleic acid	25.31%
	Linolenic acid	11.30%
	Archidonic acid	10.86 %
	Erucic acid	11.35%

Health benefits of mustard oil

The benefits of Mustard oil are as follows

1. Mustard oil with turmeric and salt used as an oral care

The paste of Mustard oil with turmeric and salt relief from gingivitis and periodontitis. Moreover, in India, mustard oil and salt massage have been used for gum massage and for maintenance and improvement of oral hygiene because of their antimicrobial properties (4,5).

2. Reduces inflammatory muscle pain

Mustard oil is also known for its irritant properties which are sometimes beneficial to reduce inflammatory muscle pain. Thus this oil is effective to resume sensation and treat neuron disorder (6).

Furthermore, mustard oil also induces moderate-to-severe spontaneous burning pain and somatosensory sensitization which is useful loss or gain-of-function in peripheral neuropathies (7).

3. Lowers cholesterol levels

Mustard oil is good for cholesterol as it contains a rich source of monounsaturated fatty acids (MUFA) and polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA) which show hypocholesterolemic and hypolipidemic effects (8).

4. Mustard oil keep the heart healthy

Consumption of mustard oil is good for the heart in order to reduce the risk of cardiac events, oxidative stress, and blood lipoproteins. As it contains n-3 fatty acids, which keep the heart healthy and protect from acute myocardial infarction (9).

α-linolenic acid found in mustard oil reduces the adhesion and aggregation tendency of blood platelets and lowers the risk of Ischemic heart disease (IHD) than sunflower oil (10).

5. Weight loss and belly fat reduction

Diacylglycerol (DAG) and polyunsaturated fatty acid (PUFA) of mustard oil induce thermogenesis and suppress fat accumulation in adipose tissue and reduce body weight (11). Therefore mustard oil is good for weight loss and belly fat.

6. Treats Vitamin A Deficiency

Pressed mustard seed oil is a rich source of vitamin A with low cost and hence used to treat vitamin A deficiency (12).

7. Mustard oil helps in controlling diabetes

Presence of polyunsaturated fatty acid in mustard oil decrease serum glucose and lipid levels and improved glucose tolerance than other oil. Thus mustard oil shows a wonderful antiobesity effect by reducing blood glucose levels, improve glucose and lipid homeostasis, and hence the best oil for diabetes (13).

8. Prevents Cancer

Mustard oil contains Allyl isothiocyanate which acts as a cancer chemopreventive agent. Oral intake of this Allyl isothiocyanate gets relieved through the urine and useful for bladder cancer prevention (14).

9. Lowers blood pressure

Mustard oil contains glycosides, known as isothiocyanate, niaziminin A and B, which show a wonderful effect on lowering blood pressure (15).

Side effects of mustard oil

Mustard oil is known for its various health benefits, however, it is banned in some countries and sold only for external use in countries like the United States, Canada, and European Union as it is considered to be harmful for consumption in these countries.

1. Risk of epidemic dropsy

Intake of adulterated mustard oil with argemone oil can cause oxidative stress and death of red blood cells because adulteration may affect the quality of food and leads to epidemic dropsy (16).

2. Presence of erucic acid

Expressed mustard oil also known as bad oil because it contains 20 to 40% erucic acid (harmful factor) which resulted in nutritional deficiencies and cardiac lesions thus precaution should be needed before consumption (17).