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Eutrema japonicum
Also called Japanese Horseradish, Wild Wasabi
Wasabi (Eutrema japonicum) is a perennial plant in the cabbage family, grown mainly for its pungent rhizome that is grated into a condiment for sushi. It needs cool, constantly moist conditions, ideally in stream-side beds or shaded, well-drained soil.
Wasabi (Japanese: ワサビ, わさび, or 山葵, pronounced [waꜜsabi]) or Japanese horseradish (Eutrema japonicum syn. Wasabia japonica) is a plant of the family Brassicaceae, which also includes horseradish and mustard in other genera. The plant is native to Japan, the Russian Far East including Sakhalin, and the Korean Peninsula. It grows naturally along stream beds in mountain river valleys in Japan.
Wasabi is grown for its rhizomes, which are ground into a paste as a pungent condiment for sushi and other foods. It is similar in taste to hot mustard or horseradish rather than chilli peppers, in that it stimulates the nose more than the tongue, but freshly grated wasabi has a subtly distinct flavour. The main cultivars in the marketplace are E. japonicum 'Daruma' and 'Mazuma', but there are many others.
Wasabi can be classified according to the style in which it is planted. "Field wasabi" (畑山葵, hatake wasabi) is wasabi grown in fields, and "water wasabi" (沢山葵, 水山葵; sawa wasabi) is cultivated in a semiaquatic system, in stream beds. In Japan, semiaquatic systems are traditionally used for cultivation. "Water wasabi" is valued for its large rhizome.
Few places are suitable for large-scale wasabi cultivation, which is difficult even in ideal conditions. In Japan, wasabi is cultivated mainly in these regions:
The chemical in wasabi that provides its initial pungency is the volatile compound allyl isothiocyanate, which is produced by hydrolysis of allyl glucosinolate, a natural thioglucoside (conjugates of the sugar glucose and sulfur-containing organic compounds); the hydrolysis reaction is catalyzed by myrosinase and occurs when the enzyme is released on cell rupture caused by partial maceration – e.g., grating – of the plant. The same compound is responsible for the pungency of horseradish and mustard. Allyl isothiocyanate can also be released when the wasabi plants have been damaged because it is being used as a defense mechanism. The sensory neural target of mustard oil is the chemosensory receptor, TRPA1, also known as the wasabi receptor.
Wasabi is normally consumed in such small quantities that its nutritional value is negligible. The major constituents of raw wasabi root are carbohydrates (23.5%), water (69.1%), fat (0.63%), and protein (4.8%).
Text excerpted from the Wikipedia article Wasabi by its contributors, under CC BY-SA 4.0; the excerpts and the care summary drawn from them are shared under the same licence.
The care summary was written by AI (Claude, Anthropic) from the sources on this page, with general growing knowledge where they are silent. Check before relying on it.
Life form, climate and native range: World Checklist of Vascular Plants, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew (CC BY 3.0), reformatted; see Plants of the World Online.
