article · International Journal of Pharmaceutical Research and Development
Brassica juncea, commonly known as brown mustard, is widely recognised for its traditional medicinal uses, including serving as an appetite stimulant, laxative, expectorant, and antiseptic. Laboratory evaluations using standard analytical and spectrophotometric methods were conducted to profile the active components of the seeds. Qualitative testing confirmed the presence of tannins, terpenoids, saponins, flavonoids, alkaloids, phenols, and cardiac glycosides. Quantitative chemical assays revealed high concentrations of tannins, terpenoids, and saponins, alongside moderate levels of flavonoids and alkaloids. Proximate testing identified key nutritional components, showing dry matter at over 98 percent alongside crude lipids, protein, and fibre. Mineral profiling detected essential elements including phosphorus, potassium, calcium, magnesium, iron, and zinc. These findings offer preclinical biochemical evidence supporting the value of brown mustard seeds as a viable basis for standardised plant-derived therapeutic treatments.
Traditional medicine relies heavily on plant seeds, but modern healthcare requires precise chemical validation to ensure safety and effectiveness. By documenting the specific phytochemicals, nutrients, and minerals within brown mustard seeds, this research provides the biochemical baseline needed to justify traditional health claims and support the development of affordable, plant-based remedies.
The findings could enable pharmaceutical and nutraceutical developers to utilise brown mustard seeds in formulating standardised phytotherapeutics or dietary supplements. Because the data is limited to preliminary phytochemical and proximate characterisation, the work remains at an early laboratory stage, requiring extensive formulation, safety testing, and clinical validation before commercial drug products can emerge.
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Brassica juncea (brown mustard) seed is an economically important plant that has been well-known in many countries for centuries for its medicinal and nutritive values. Mustard seeds are used in various traditional remedies to stimulate appetite and as a laxative, expectorant and antiseptic agent for treatment of various gastrointestinal, respiratory and skin diseases. The aim of the present study was to determine the ethno pharmacologically active components of brown mustard seeds by performing qualitative and quantitative phytochemical, proximate and mineral analysis using the standard method of Association of Analytical Chemist (AOAC) and Atomic Absorption Spectrophotometric (AAS) method. The results show that qualitative phytochemicals present are: tannin, terpenoid, saponin, flavonoid, alkaloid, phenols and cardiac glycoside. Quantitatively, tannin content was (7.75 ± 0.06%), Terpenoid (5.40±0.02), Saponin (4.25 ± 0.01%), alkaloids (2.25 ± 0.01%), Flavonoid (2.48 ± 0.02%) and Phenols (0.12± 0.02). Proximate results show ash (0.23%), moisture (1.26%), crude fibre (1.80%), crude protein (2.58%) crude lipid (3.85%), Dry matter (98.74 ± 0.03) and Nitrogen free element (91.87±0.57). Mineral contents shows the presences of Phosphorus (P), Potassium (K), Calcium (Ca), Magnesium (Mg), Sodium (Na), Iron (Fe), Zinc (Zn), Manganese (Mn) and Copper (Cu). This available preclinical information strongly suggests that B. juncea could be a sustainable source of affordable drugs which is potentially a good source for obtaining pharmacologically standardized phytotherapeutics.
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DOI: 10.33545/26646862.2019.v1.i1a.3
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