Pungent glucosinolates

Sulfur compounds

Sinigrin and gluconasturtiin: what goes up your nose with horseradish, wasabi and black radish.

The pungency IS the molecule: if it does not sting, it is no longer there.

Effects and benefits

What shoots up your nose with wasabi, horseradish and mustard is a defense molecule. It slows many microbes, so much so that it is used in Japan to preserve food; and watercress, which carries a cousin, reduced DNA damage in white blood cells in one trial.

The sinigrin of mustard and horseradish gives allyl isothiocyanate, volatile, which shoots to the nose and activates an irritation receptor, TRPA1, the same as tear gas (Bautista et al., 2006). The burn lasts only a few seconds: the molecule does not stay on the tongue.

The gluconasturtiin of watercress gives a cousin, phenethyl isothiocyanate. In an eight-week trial, 85 g of raw watercress a day reduced DNA damage in white blood cells and increased blood antioxidants (Gill et al., 2007).

Allyl isothiocyanate slows many bacteria and molds; in Japan, packaging that releases it is used to preserve food.

Sources: Bautista et al., Cell, 2006 · Gill et al., AJCN, 2007

Pungent glucosinolates

Effects and benefits

Where to find it (17)

Also, in smaller amounts (39)