The Wasabia japonica Story (2003)
This article was first published in 2003, but is still relevant today. In fact, it might be even more important as the medical establishment haven’t acted on any of this information.
The Wasabia Japonica Story
Wasabia Japonica (wasabi) has been grown and eaten in Japan for centuries. It is believed that the daily consumption of wasabi improves the health and fights off a large number of illnesses. This has now been borne out by a large (and increasing) number of scientific studies on the actions of the naturally occurring ingredients within the wasabi plant. These studies appear to confirm the folklore that surrounds wasabi and its medicinal properties. A number of studies have shown that the active ingredients in wasabi are able to kill a number of different types of cancer cells, reduce the possibility of getting blood clots, encourages the bodies own defences to discard cells that have started to mutate, and acts as an anti-bacterial and anti-fungal agent against food poisons.
Some of these effects are now documented and enable the consumer to realize that there are significant benefits to the daily consumption of wasabi in their diet. It has been determined “that wasabi…might be a potent functional food for human health”.1
True wasabi (Wasabia Japonica) is a plant that belongs to the Brassica family. Originally from the mountains of Japan, where it grows in the mountain streams in specially built centuries old growing beds, it demands the highest environmental conditions. It is for this reason that the production of very high quality water grown wasabi has been reducing throughout the world as the environment becomes polluted. Acid rain in Japan and Asia are the main causes of the decline in the growing areas in that region. The last wasabi growing bed to have been built in Japan is reputed to be at least 200 years old.
The growing of high quality water wasabi has been recognized as difficult, and was done by a few families in Japan. As pollution degraded the growing environment, together with the fact that young people do not want to work in the unwelcoming environment in the high mountains, the numbers of families growing wasabi using the traditional methods have fallen away. In order to try and make up for the reduction in high quality wasabi being supplied as a fresh vegetable, the Japanese food industry have provided a solution. Their solution was to provide a powder or paste that consists of European Horseradish (Armoracia rusticana, or Armoracia Lapthifolia or Cholearia Arnoracia) mixed with mustard seed and FDA approved colouring. This is the powder or paste that is commonly found in the food markets, is bright green in colour, and clears the sinuses when eaten. While it tastes and acts in a similar fashion to real grated wasabi (Wasabia Japonica) as a food item, this product does not contain all the active ingredients of the true wasabi plant.
It has been found that the highest activity compounds among “food-stuffs tested was found in the stems of wasabi”. 2, 6 This compound is similar to the active compound found in Broccoli sprouts, but is 40 times more active. This high activity compound has been found to:
¨ “inhibit the development of lung tumours in mice”3
¨ “have potent antibacterial activity”
¨ “glandular stomach carcinogenesis…was suppressed by …wasabi”4
¨ play “an important role for antiplatelet and anticancer activities”
¨ potentially be a “potent functional food for keeping human health”1
¨ “increase the abundance of protective detoxification enzymes”6
¨ have a “protective effect….on the colon epithelium”7
¨ potentially “be a significant component of…anticarcinogenic activity”8
¨ “eliminate precancerous cells…well after initial exposure to chemical mutagens and carcinogens”9
¨ “inhibit the neoplastic effects of various carcinogens at a number of organ sites”10
¨ “inhibit the growth…of human leukaemia HL60 and human myeloblastic leukaemia-1 cells”11
¨ “suppress the growth of preclinical tumours and contribute to the well established decreased cancer incidence associated with a vegetable rich diet”11
¨ “have strong antimicrobial activity…and reduction of viable bacteria”12
¨ be involved with “the bioconversion of a dietary glucosinolate to a potentially anticarcinogrnic isothiocyanate”13
¨ “inhibit the development of tumours”14
¨ possibly “protect against the development of colorectal cancer”15
In order to ensure that the indicated benefits are not diluted Namida® wasabi is grown under the strictest environmental conditions in a controlled environment. No pesticides, herbicides or non-organic sprays are used on the water grown wasabi. All inputs are certified organic. The wasabi is hand picked, sorted and washed prior to grading. The highest grade wasabi is selected for use under the Namida® brand name. This wasabi is carefully handled and processed to ensure the minimal loss of any of the active ingredients naturally occurring in the wasabi.
The growing and processing system complies with EN14000 environmental standards and ISO 9000 quality standards.
New Zealand Wasabi Limited has been growing and processing the highest quality water grown wasabi since 1990 in Clean, Green New Zealand, and has been acknowledged by Crop and Food (NZ) as having the most technically advanced wasabi growing system available.
A neutraceutical grade extract from Namida® 100% Pure Wasabi is now available under the Sawa® brand.
[1] Functional properties of wasabi and horseradish. K. Kinae, N Masuda, H. Shin, I.S. Furugori, M. Shimoi. Biofactors. 2000; 13(1-4): 265-9 0951-6433.
[2] 6-Methylsulfinylhexyl isothiocyanate and its homologues as food-orginated compounds with antibacterial activities against Escherichia coli and Staphylococcus aureus. M. Ono, H. Tesaki, S. Tanabe, S. Watanabe. Biosci-Siotechnol-Biochem. 1998 Feb; 62(2): 363-5 0916-8451.
[3] The effect of 6-Methylsulfinylhexyl isothiocyanate isolated from Wasabia Japonica (wasabi) on 4-(methylinitrosamino)-1-(3-pyridyl)-1-buatnone-induced lung tumorigenesis in mice. T. Yano, T. Yajima, S. Virgona, N. Yano, Y. Otani, S.Kumagai, H. Sakurai, H. Kishimoto, M. Ichikawa. Cancer-Lett. 2000 Jul 31; 155(2): 115-20 0304-3835.
[4] Suppressive effect of wasabi (pungent Japanese spice) on gastric carcinogenesis induced by MNNG in rats. T. Tanida, N. Kawaura, A. Takahashi, A. Sawada, K. Shimoyama. Nutr-Cancer. 1991; 16(1): 53-8 0163-5581.
[5] Antiplatelet and anticancer isothiocyanates in Japanese domestic horseradish, wasabi. T.Morimitsu, Y. Hayashi, K. Nakagawa, Y. Horio, F. Uchida, K. Osawa. Biofactors. 2000; 13(1-4): 271-6 0951-6433.
[6] A sulforaphone analogue that potently activates the Nrf2-dependent detoxification pathway. Koji Morimitsu, Yasujiro Nakagawa, Yoko Hayashi, Kazuhiro Fujii, Hiroyuki Kumagai, Takeshi Nakamura, Yoshimasa Osawa, Toshihiko Horio, Fumihiko Itoh, Ken Iida, Katsuyuki Yamamoto, Masayuki Uchida. J-Biol-Chem. 2002 Feb 1; 277(5): 3456-63 0021-9258.
[7] Metabolism of sinigrin (2-propenyl glucosinolate) by the human colonic microflora in a dynamic in vitro large-intestinal model. Sylvie Krul, Cyrille Humblot, Christele Philippe, Catherine Vermeulen, Martijn van Nuenen, Marleen Havenaar, Robert Rabot. Carcinogenesis. 2002 Jun; 23(6): 1009-16 0143-3334.
[8] Effect of naturally occurring organosulfur compounds on nitric oxide production in lipopolysaccharide-activated macrophages. Hisao Ippoushi, Katsunari Itou, Hidekazu Azuma, Keiko Higashio. Life-Sci. 2002 Jun 14; 71(4): 411-9 0024-3205.
[9] Dietary compounds that induce cancer preventative phase 2 enzymes activate apoptosis at comparable doses in HT29 colon carcinoma cells. D.P. Kirlin, W.G. Cai, J. DeLong, M.J. Patten, E.J. Jones. J-Nutr. 1999 Oct; 129(10): 1827-35 0022-3166.
[10] Human metabolism and excretion of cancer chemoprotective glucosinolates and isothiocyanates of cruciferous vegetables. P. Shapiro, T. A. Fahey, J.M. Wade, M.L. Stephenson, K.K. Talslay.Cancer-Epidemiol-Biomarkers-Prev. 1998 Dec; 7(12): 1091-100 1055-9965.
[11] Studies on the mechanism of the inhibition of human leukaemia cell growth by dietary isothiocyanates and their cysteine adducts in vitro. F.J. Xu, K. Thornalley. Biochem-Pharmacol. 2000 Jul15; 60(2): 221-31 0006-2952.
[12] Antibacterial mechanism of allyl isothiocyanate. C.I. Lin, C.M. Preston. J.F. Wei. J-Food-Prot. 2000 Jun; 63(6): 727-34 0362-028X.
[13] Formation of allyl isothiocyanate from sinigrin in the digestive tract of rats monoassociated with a human colonic strain of Bacteroides thetaiotaomicron. A. Elfoul, L. Rabot, S. Khelifa, N. Quinsac, A. Duguay, A. Rimbault. FEMS-Microbiol-Lett. 2001 Apr 1; 197(1): 99-103 0378-1097.
[14] Selective toxicity of compounds naturally present in food toward the transformed phenotype of human colorectal cell line HT29. I.T. Musk, S.R. Stephenson, P. Smith, T.K. Stening, P. Fyfe, D. Johnson. Nutr-Cancer. 1995; 24(3): 289-98 0163-5581.
[15] Allyl isothiocyanate is selectively toxic to transformed cells of the human colorectal tumour line HT29. I.T. Musk, S.R. Johnson. Carcinogenesis. 1993 Oct; 14(10): 2079-83 0143-3334.
Hopefully you found this article interesting and useful. If you would like more information on growing Wasabia japonica, then go to http://wasabigrowers.com/ and sign up for their FREE email Wasabi Growers Homework Course. This will give you more ideas about what you need to concentrate on if you really want to become a Wasabi Grower.