તલવણી

• Surface-sow or barely cover the seed and keep it moist.
• It usually germinates in 5-14 days at 25°C, though daytime temperatures below 20°C slow germination, a night-time dip to around 20°C actually helps.
• Prick seedlings into individual pots once large enough to handle, and plant out when ready.

• Leaves are cooked as a potherb, added to soups, stews, and sauces, or pickled, valued for a piquant, mustard-like bite and notably high in vitamin C, aluminium, and iron.
• Pungent seeds, eaten in hard times, work as a mustard substitute and yield about 17.6% of a good-quality edible oil that needs no refining.
• Medicinally, the leaves are widely used externally as a counter-irritant for rheumatism and lumbago (rubbed on or applied as a poultice, though prolonged contact can blister skin), and as ear drops for earache, an eyewash for inflamed eyes, and even inhaled like smelling salts for headaches.
• Root decoctions treat fever, and root juice relieves scorpion stings.
• Seeds are anthelmintic (deworming), and a seed capsule inserted in the ear can soften and remove earwax.

These uses are documented for information only and are not medical advice. Always verify the species and the plant part before use.

• plantuse.org
• indiaflora-ces.iisc.ac.in
• efloraofgandhinagar.in