ABSTRACT
The health benefits of other cruciferous veggies also accrue to the wasabi, making it one of those that are especially useful for preventing cancer. These are all generously endowed with health-giving, sulfur containing compounds, like isothiocyanates and sulforaphane, to name some receiving a lot of press lately. I think that most of the activities and indications given for horseradish could accrue as easily to wasabi were it as well studied among occidentals. Dr. Hideki Masuda, Ph.D., director of the Material Research and Development Laboratories at Ogawa & Co., Ltd., in Japan, reports (pers. comm.) that a phytochemical in wasabi prevents tooth decay in laboratory tests. Isothiocyanates, which are reported from wasabi, are known to possess antiseptic and bactericidal properties. Dr. Masuda hypothesized and demonstrated that isothiocyanates would inhibit the growth of
Streptococcus mutans
, the bacteria that causes dental caries, in test-tube studies. One of 12 isothiocyanates he isolated effectively inhibited the enzyme glucosyltransferase (GTF), an enzyme that catalyzes the formation of glucan from sucrose by which
Streptococcus mutans
form plaque on teeth.
