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Are you eating real wasabi?


 


Perhaps you might call the pistachio-green paste on your plate wasabi, but it is most likely just a mix of European horseradish, mustard and food colouring. Even in Japan, the home of wasabi, the real thing is in short supply.


 



    
        

            
            
        

    



 


Real wasabi comes from the rootlike stem (like fresh ginger) of Wasabia japonica, related to such plants as cabbage, cauliflower, broccoli and mustard. Its distant cousin European horseradish (Armoracia rusticana) often substitutes for it in cooking.


 


Unlike horseradish-based substitutes, the heat of real wasabi dissipates quickly because of the volatility of the flavour components. If you take imitation wasabi powder and add water, you can leave that almost overnight and it will still be hot. With real wasabi, when you grate it up, its hotness remains for at most 15 minutes. The components of both wasabi and horseradish can be stabilized by acids, such as vinegar or lemon juice.


 


The key chemicals that give wasabi its characteristic heat and flavour are not present until the wasabi is macerated. When the cell wall is disrupted, it releases the enzyme myrosinase, which hydrolyzes glucosinolates, a group of sulfur-containing glucose derivatives, to produce isothiocyanates that provide wasabi’s spiciness. The most abundant of these is allyl isothiocyanate.


 



    
        

            
            
        

    



 


Horseradish has a different profile of isothiocyanates, and it is possible to taste the difference. Some scientists have done a quantitative comparison of seven isothiocyanates in horseradish and wasabi. The horseradish contained 1.9 g of total isothiocyanate/kg, whereas wasabi contained 2.1 g/kg (nearly 10 % more). Allyl isothiocyanate was the major component in both. The second most abundant isothiocyanate was 2-phenylethyl isothiocyanate, but it was found only in the horseradish. It, therefore, probably plays a major role in the flavour differences between the two plants. Every other isothiocyanate was present at higher concentrations in wasabi than in horseradish.


 


It might sound like it would be impossible to make a commercial product with real wasabi, but that is not the case. If you take the fresh fruit and simply freeze it and then freeze-dry it, you keep the enzyme and the substrate separate. They do not get a chance to interact.


 


In addition to its uses in cooking, scientists have started investigating wasabi’s isothiocyanates, particularly 6-methylsulfinylhexyl isothiocyanate, for possible medicinal uses. It is thought to alleviate symptoms in a number of disorders, including allergies, asthma, cancer, inflammation and neurodegenerative diseases.


 


One of the challenges with wasabi is that it is difficult to cultivate. A manufacturer has begun cultivating wasabi in greenhouses for high-end culinary markets and the nutraceutical market.