Wasabi Flavour
Wasabi flavour is a compounded flavouring that reproduces the sharp, volatile pungency of grated wasabi rhizome, built around allyl isothiocyanate together with supporting green and sulphurous notes.
The pungency of real wasabi comes from isothiocyanates released when the plant tissue is damaged and its glucosinolates meet the enzyme myrosinase. Because those compounds are highly volatile and degrade within minutes of being formed, a stable commercial flavour is assembled from isolated or synthesised isothiocyanates rather than from fresh rhizome alone. The main component is allyl isothiocyanate obtained from mustard seed, with smaller quantities of butenyl and phenylethyl isothiocyanate to broaden the profile away from plain mustard heat.
The material is a colourless to pale yellow oily liquid, an emulsion, or a spray dried or encapsulated powder. The active isothiocyanates are only slightly soluble in water, are freely soluble in oils and ethanol, and are reactive towards amines and thiols, so protein rich matrices bind and deactivate them over time. They are also lost rapidly to evaporation above about sixty degrees Celsius, which is why encapsulated forms dominate in applications that involve heat or long shelf life.
We source bulk Wasabi Flavour from top China manufacturers for our partners. The manufacturer is in Guangdong. A smaller requirement can ship in a combined container with other ingredients.
Please send the grade you need, the volume and your destination port, and we will come back with a solution and a price.
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- Function
- Flavours and Aromas
Specifications
| Item | Specification |
|---|---|
| Appearance | Colourless to pale yellow clear oily liquid |
| Odour | Sharp pungent wasabi and mustard character |
| Identification | Conforms by infrared spectrum and gas chromatography retention time |
| Allyl isothiocyanate content | Not less than 20.0%, standardised to the declared grade |
| Relative density at 20 degrees Celsius | 0.940 to 1.020 |
| Refractive index at 20 degrees Celsius | 1.4700 to 1.5350 |
| Acid value | Not more than 3.0 mg KOH/g |
| Water content | Not more than 0.5% |
| Residue on ignition | Not more than 0.1% |
| Heavy metals as lead | Not more than 10 mg/kg |
| Lead | Not more than 1.0 mg/kg |
| Arsenic | Not more than 1.0 mg/kg |
| Solubility | Slightly soluble in water, soluble in ethanol and vegetable oils |
Common Markets Grades
The main commercial distinction is between the neat oil, the water dispersible emulsion and the encapsulated powder. Neat grades are specified on allyl isothiocyanate content, commonly from twenty percent up to essentially pure material diluted in a vegetable oil or triacetin carrier, and are used where the flavour is added into a fat phase. Emulsions carry ten to thirty percent active in a gum arabic or modified starch stabilised system for direct addition to sauces and dressings.
Encapsulated powders sit at the other end of the range, typically five to fifteen percent active locked into a maltodextrin, modified starch or cyclodextrin matrix, chosen when the flavour must survive extrusion, baking or a long ambient shelf life and release only on rehydration in the mouth. Alongside these, natural grades are offered in which the isothiocyanate is recovered from mustard or horseradish by enzymatic hydrolysis and steam distillation rather than synthesised, and blended grades combine the isothiocyanate with horseradish and wasabi powders, green colour and a savoury base to give a ready to use wasabi paste concentrate.
Applications
- Wasabi paste and powder for sushi and sashimi service, where it supplies the nasal pungency the diluted rhizome cannot hold
- Coated peanuts, peas and crackers, using an encapsulated grade that survives the drying oven
- Potato and corn snack seasonings, dusted on in a topical oil and powder blend
- Mayonnaise, salad dressings and dipping sauces, dosed as an emulsion into the aqueous phase
- Instant noodle sachets and dry soup bases, in encapsulated form for shelf stability
- Marinades and glazes for grilled meat and seafood, added after cooking to preserve pungency
- Processed cheese and cream cheese spreads sold on a wasabi profile
- Ready meals and chilled sushi kits, where the paste must hold pungency through refrigerated distribution
- Savoury seasoning blends and rubs sold to foodservice
China Manufacturers of Wasabi Flavour
Top Wasabi Flavour manufacturers in China.
Company names and logos are the property of the manufacturers themselves. They are listed here because our own directory records them as producing this ingredient. A listing is not an endorsement by them, and we do not represent them or speak on their behalf.
Regulatory Status
In the United States allyl isothiocyanate is a permitted synthetic flavouring substance listed in 21 CFR 172.515 and also carries generally recognised as safe status from the expert panel of the Flavour and Extract Manufacturers Association under an assigned FEMA number. Mustard and horseradish derived preparations are food ingredients in their own right. The finished compound is declared in an ingredient statement as natural flavour, artificial flavour or a combination of the two according to the origin of the components, following 21 CFR 101.22, and a product may be described as wasabi flavoured only where the labelling accurately reflects what carries the characterising flavour.
In the European Union allyl isothiocyanate is included in the Union list of flavouring substances authorised for use in food, maintained under Regulation (EC) No 1334/2008, and the same regulation sets conditions on the use of certain substances that occur naturally in mustard and cruciferous plants. Flavourings carry no E number, since Regulation (EC) No 1333/2008 regulates additives separately, though the carriers, emulsifiers and colours used in a compounded wasabi flavour do. Mustard is a listed allergen under the food information regulation, so mustard derived material has to be declared. The Joint FAO WHO Expert Committee on Food Additives has evaluated allyl isothiocyanate within its group assessment of sulphur containing flavouring agents.
Manufacturing Process
The natural route starts from defatted mustard seed meal, in which sinigrin is the dominant glucosinolate. The meal is slurried in water at a controlled temperature and pH so that the native myrosinase hydrolyses sinigrin, releasing allyl isothiocyanate. The volatile product is stripped from the slurry by steam distillation, condensed, and separated from the aqueous phase by decantation, then dried over a desiccant and rectified under vacuum to remove the sulphur containing by products that carry a cooked or cabbage character. The synthetic route instead reacts allyl chloride with an inorganic thiocyanate under controlled conditions and purifies the product by fractional distillation.
Compounding follows. The purified isothiocyanate is blended with the supporting aroma chemicals, natural extracts and any horseradish or wasabi powder in a jacketed, closed mixing vessel kept cool to limit losses, and the batch is standardised on active content. For an emulsion the blend is dispersed into a gum solution and passed through a high pressure homogeniser; for a powder the emulsion is spray dried, or the flavour is complexed with cyclodextrin and the complex filtered and dried. Finished material is packed into lined drums or foil laminate under nitrogen and held cold.
