Brassica juncea includes brown mustard, Indian mustard, leaf mustard and mustard greens.
The term mustard comes from the use of the seeds to form a sweet ‘must’ a component of old wines.
Mustard greens are native to the Himalayan region of India, where they have been cultivated for more than 5,000 years.
It must have migrated eastward early in its domestication to establish secondary centers of diversity in central and western China, eastern India, and Burma as well as westward to the Near East.
Mustard greens are a notable vegetable in many different cuisines, ranging from Chinese to southern African-American.
In India and China mustard greens has long been used as a medicinal plant, most notably for its anti-inflammatory properties.
The mustard green used in Southern cooking today was not known in colonial America.
Mustard green in history
