PDR for Herbal Medicines

100/BLACK MULBERRY PDR FOR HERBAL MEDICINES

DOSAGE

Mode of Administration: The drug is used internally as a

comminuted drug, juice or syrup.

Daily Dosage: The average daily dose is 2 to 4 ml of syrup.

LITERATURE

Deshpande VH, (1968) Tetrahedron Lett 1715.

Kern W, List PR Horhammer L (Hrsg.). Hagers Handbuch der

Pharmazeutischen Praxis, 4. AufL, Bde 1-8, Springer Verlag

Berlin, Heidelberg. New York. 1969.

Kimura Y et aL (1986) J Nat Prod 94(4):639.

Madaus G, Lehrbuch der Biologischen Arzneimittel, Bde 1-3,

Nachdruck, Georg Olms Verlag Hildesheim 1979.

Nomura T et al., (1983) Planta Med 47:151.

Oliver-Bever B (Ed.), Medicinal Plants of Tropical West Africa,

Cambridge University Press. Cambridge 1986.

Black Mustard

Brassica nigra

DESCRIPTION

Medicinal Parts: The medicinal parts are the seeds from

which oil is extracted.

Flower and Fruit: The inflorescences are terminal or axillary

and compressed into a semi-sphere. The flowers have 4 free

sepals, 4 free petals, 6 stamens and 1 ovary. The sepals are

3.5 to 4.5 mm long and appear linear because of slits on the

edge. They are yellowish-green, usually glabrous, upright

and slightly splayed. The yellow petals are twice as long as

the calyx, obovate, rounded at the tip and narrowed to a stem

at the base. The ovary is on the receptacle. The style is thin

and has a semi-globose, cushion-like stigma. The fruit is an

erect pod, which is linear and rounded or angular with a thin

dividing wall. It is 10 to 25 mm long and pressed onto the

stem. The seed is globose, brown, matte and punctate.

Leaves, Stem and Root: Black. Mustard is an annual that

grows up to 1 m tall and is slim-branched with thin fusiform

roots. The stem grows up to 1 m. It is almost round and

bristly-haired at the base, with a bluish bloom toward the

top. The stem is glabrous with upright branches almost in

bushels. The leaves are petiolate, up to 12 cm long and 5 cm

wide. The lower leaves are grass-green and covered in 1 mm

long bristles. They are pinnatifid and densely dentate, with 2

to 4 obtuse lobes on each side and a large end section. The

upper stem and branch leaves are smaller, usually glabrous

and blue-green, ovate or lanceolate and slightly dentate.

Habitat: Black Mustard grows in temperate regions
worldwide.

Production: Mustard seeds are the seeds of Brassica nigra.

ACTIONS AND PHARMACOLOGY

COMPOUNDS

Glucosinolates: chiefly sinigrin (allylglucosinolates, 1-5%);

grinding the seeds into powder and then rubbing with warm

water (not with hot water because enzymes would be

destroyed), as well as chewing, releases the volatile mustard

oil allylisothiocyanate

Fatty oil (30-35%)

Proteins (40%)

Phenyl propane derivatives: including sinapine (choline

ester of sinapic acid, 1%)

EFFECTS

The hyperemic effect is the main effect and is employed for

various indications where increased blood flow is desired.

The drug contains glucosinolates whose main constituent,

sinigrin, is converted through enzymatic hydrolysis to allyl

mustard oil. This causes a stabbing pain and an intense

reddening of the skin. Upon contact with the skin, Allylsen

oil causes the severity of the inflammation to increase,

potentially to the extent were blisters and necrosis may

occur.

INDICATIONS AND USAGE

Unproven Uses: External uses include bronchial pneumonia,

sinusitis, pleurisy, lumbago and sciatica for which a mustard

poultice is applied, sometimes to achieve an antirheumatic

effect (mustard spirit 2%). Foot baths and full baths are used

to prompt increased circulation (headaches and mild glauco-

ma) or to stimulate the cardiopulmonary system (frost bite

and vascular disease).

Homeopathic Uses: Uses in homeopathy include irritation of

the upper respiratory tract and the gastrointestinal tract.

CONTRAINDICATIONS

Use of Black Mustard is contraindicated in individuals with

gastrointestinal ulcers or inflammatory kidney diseases.

PRECAUTIONS AND ADVERSE REACTIONS

General: No health hazards or side effects are known in

conjunction with the proper administration of designated

therapeutic dosages. Gastrointestinal complaints (and, rarely,

kidney irritation) could occur following internal administra-

tion, due to fiie mucus-membrane-irritating effect of the

mustard oil. The drug possesses minimal potential for

sensitization; contact allergies have been observed. The

draining effect associated with the drug's administration

makes it inadvisable in the presence of varicosis and venous

disorder.

Sneezing, coughing and possible asthmatic attacks can result

from breathing the allylisothiocyanate that arises with the