# Horseradish heat

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/horseradish-heat/73823>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [July 26, 2001, 5:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/horseradish-heat/73823 "2001-07-26T05:10:53Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 4\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![JamesCarroll](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/5daacb/32.png) [@JamesCarroll](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JamesCarroll)\
**Post date:** [July 26, 2001, 5:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/horseradish-heat/73823/1 "2001-07-26T05:10:53Z")

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I understand that capsaicin gives peppers their heat, but what about horseradish? And wasabe, too? They seem similar in that both can just “explode” into your sinuses, but a quick swig of water or ice tea and they go away. Peppers tend to punish much longer.

Thanks for the info.  
PS: If you’ve never had wasabe roasted peas get you butt doen to your local asian market and buy some. They (and their plain brothers) are the greatest munchies.

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**Author:** ![Zenster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/cdc98d/32.png) [@Zenster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zenster)\
**Post date:** [July 26, 2001, 6:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/horseradish-heat/73823/2 "2001-07-26T06:12:53Z")

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The folks at [freshwasabi.com](http://freshwasabi.com) have this to say:

> [@](#):
>
> Hydration of a glucoside (sinigrin) by the enzyme myrosinase results in the production of Wasabi’s special flavor component, an allyl isothiocyanate, the major pungent component. We all experience this in the form of that heat rush up our noses when eating Wasabi with our sushi! The components that give Wasabi its flavor are 6-methylthiohexyl isothiocyanate, 7-methylthioheptyl isothiocyanate and 8-methylthioocytl isothiocyanate (Ina et al., 1989). Scientists are now discovering that these Wasabi isothiocyanates may have important medical benefits.

This seems to be a very different mechanism from the usual [capsaicin](http://easyweb.easynet.co.uk/~gcaselton/chile/scoville.html) based [chemistry](http://www.sammcgees.com/chili/chemistry.html).

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**Author:** ![Chas.E](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e99b99/32.png) [@Chas.E](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chas.E)\
**Post date:** [July 26, 2001, 7:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/horseradish-heat/73823/3 "2001-07-26T07:25:55Z")

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> [@](#):
>
> **PS: If you’ve never had wasabe roasted peas get you butt doen to your local asian market and buy some. They (and their plain brothers) are the greatest munchies.**

Ah, my favorite! I am desperately in love with the wasabi peas woman in a Japanese commercial, she rolls around on the floor in her lingerie reaching for her bag of peas, sighing and cooing orgasmically as the bag is just out of her reach. I know just how to satisfy her.

But aside from the taste, these aren’t really the GREATEST munchies. They’re made with palm oil. I’d like to make my own wasabi peas with a healthier oil but I don’t know the recipe [cue Zenster]

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**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\
**Post date:** [July 26, 2001, 10:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/horseradish-heat/73823/4 "2001-07-26T10:48:02Z")

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Just a quick note - most of the wasabi you’ve probably had is actually horseradish. if you buy it from the tubes, then it’s certainly horseradish, coloring, and some other stuff. read the tube. even most sushi places i’ve been to serve the horseradish stuff. real wasabi is not as harsh as horseradish, and, as far as i know, only grown in japan and oregon.