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This is the most clever thing I've seen posted on this site in a while. This was in 2008 and they said it would be sold within two years, so I assume that it wa

• bobthepanda 6y ago
  One problem I don’t know how to solve for this, is that wasabia japonica is fairly expensive, hard to grow or find, and not shelf stable. The vast majority of “wasabi” is horseradish and food coloring.
  • benzor 6y ago
    They mention in the article that the smell is produced synthetically (presumably for this exact reason).
    • bobthepanda 6y ago
      If the natural compound is not shelf stable I wonder what the difference with the synthetic is.
      • beenBoutIT 6y ago
        The synthetic could be more powerful, something like the difference between THC and synthetic THC.
        • mrauha 6y ago
          Perhaps you're confusing THC with synthetic cannabinoids. The molecule doesn't care whether it's made by plants or at a lab. Plants yield a mixture of cannabinoids at some concentration, which constitute ~10% of the dried plant matter. These can be extracted and separated with various techniques. The effects of pure THC are different than that of the mixture. Upcoming schemes use engineered micro-organisms to produce specific cannabinoids, efficiency of the systems is ramping up. My understanding is that the synthesis of cannabinoids is is quite an inefficient way of manufacture. None the less, it's all the same - covalently bound atoms :)