Eden Wasabi Powder – 25 gm tin Review
Information on label
Horseradish, Mustard, Wasabi
Product Description
EDEN Wasabi Powder is made from washed, cut and dried wasabi (Japanese horseradish) and Western wasabi (horseradish) that is ground into a fine powder. Mustard seed is ground and most of the oil is extracted, leaving about 4 percent of the oil in the seed. The seed is then ground again into a fine powder. The remaining oil in the mustard powder is needed to bind the wasabi and horseradish powders. All of the powders are then combined and mixed before packaging in sealed containers to preserve flavor and nutrients.Wasabi Wasabia japonica is native to Japan where it is considered a national treasure. A member of the Cruciferae or mustard family, it has heart shaped leaves and small white blossoms. Although it is mainly the hot root that is used to make true wasabi powder, the leaves and stems are often used as well. Wasabi grows only near pure cold running streams or rivers and will not grow in a polluted environment.Most commercial wasabi powders do not contain any real wasabi, which is very expensive. They are made from Western horseradish, mustard, or daikon radish mixed with cornstarch or potato starch, that act as a binding agent. Cornstarch is chemically extracted and bleached. Both cornstarch and potato starch are commonly polluted with GEOs (gentically modified organisms). Most commercial wasabi powder is made with a mixture of blue and yellow dyes, to give it the classic green color of real wasabi. EDEN Wasabi Powder is completely natural and contains no dyes, starches, additives or preservatives.
- Reviewers Comments
This is really interesting, in a perverse sort of way. The ingredient list looks remarkable like the ClearSpring product previously reviewed except that it doesn’t give the quantity of wasabi used.
The product description (2nd paragraph) states “Although it is mainly the hot root that is used to make true wasabi powder, the leaves and stems are often used as well.”
“Since this product is not “true wasabi powder” (from their ingredients list), it is unclear what grade of wasabi has been used – although it would be not unreasonable to expect only the leaves and stems have been used (after all they are a lot cheaper (3rd paragraph)).
The last line of their product description appears to be a classic case of misinformation. After all, horseradish is white, wasabi leaf is bright green (especially dried) and could be used to colour the white horseradish, and mustard oil is used in a number of countries as a preservative.
The nutritional panel seems to be a little sparse on the facts.
According to this there is nothing in the product except fibre. See the USDA nutritional tables below for the various declared ingredients, and you have to wonder what this product actually is.
Nutrient | Units | Value per 25 grams |
Proximates | ||
Water | g | 21.27 |
Energy | kcal | 12 |
Energy | kJ | 50 |
Protein | g | 0.29 |
Total lipid (fat) | g | 0.17 |
Ash | g | 0.44 |
Carbohydrate, by difference | g | 2.82 |
Fiber, total dietary | g | 0.8 |
Sugars, total | g | 2.00 |
Starch | g | 0.00 |
Horseradish USDA Nutritional Values
Nutrient | Units | Value per 25 grams |
Proximates | ||
Water | g | 17.28 |
Energy | kcal | 27 |
Energy | kJ | 114 |
Protein | g | 1.20 |
Total lipid (fat) | g | 0.16 |
Ash | g | 0.48 |
Carbohydrate, by difference | g | 5.88 |
Fiber, total dietary | g | 1.9 |
Wasabi USDA Nutritional Values
Nutrient | Units | Value per 25 grams |
Proximates | ||
Water | g | 1.32 |
Energy | kcal | 127 |
Energy | kJ | 532 |
Protein | g | 6.52 |
Total lipid (fat) | g | 9.06 |
Ash | g | 1.08 |
Carbohydrate, by difference | g | 7.02 |
Fiber, total dietary | g | 3.0 |
Sugars, total | g | 1.70 |
Sucrose | g | 0.92 |
Glucose (dextrose) | g | 0.72 |
Fructose | g | 0.01 |
Lactose | g | 0.00 |
Maltose | g | 0.00 |
Galactose | g | 0.05 |
Mustard USDA Nutritional Values
As you can see from the information obtained from USDA National Nutrient Database for Standard Reference, Release 22 (2009), there is a lot of Nutritional information missing from their informational panel. I can understand that there is no water shown (after all it is a powder, duh), but how on earth have they managed to remove everything else and just leave the fiber?
Another interesting thing I came across relates to the 4% Mustard product that they say they use to make this. It turns out that this is known as Mustard Cake and is the waste from Mustard Oil extraction. Its normal use is as cattle fodder – not as a human food.
Reviewers Recommendation
This product contains some wasabi (I guessed at 10% because the tin is so similar to ClearSpring) although there is no indication if it is leaf and petioles (stem) only. I suspect that there is no rhizome (swollen root), which contains most of the flavour and kick, in this mix, otherwise there would be no need to include the mustard or horseradish. I also suspect that the wasabi they claim is in the product is leaf only to give the green colour to the mix, and if that is the case then it is likely to be a lot less than the 10% I originally guessed at. 🙁
The taste lingered a little too long on the tongue for my liking and there was no real sweetness in the flavour. If anything it was more like English Hot Mustard than anything else. I needed to eat some yoghurt to completely get rid of the taste.
They have put a lot of information out about this product, but it appears to be misinformation that does not relate to the actual product.
I suggest that you look for better options by reading the ingredients list on any products you purchase.