Discoveries

March 21, 2024

A Wasabi Commitment

Listen to Today's Edition

Sushi lovers are very familiar with the powerful kick they get from the accompanying wasabi.

Now, a new study has found that the spicy green paste is not just a condiment, but can be used to preserve ancient papyrus scrolls, the Smithsonian Magazine reported.

Thousands of years ago, papyrus was used for a myriad of purposes, including making sails, baskets and writing material. But the material – made from stems of the Cyperus papyrus plant – doesn’t have a long shelf life and is prone to fungal infections.

Researcher Hanadi Saada and his team sought to test the benefits of wasabi, a plant found in China, Japan and Russia’s Far East.

In their experiments, they recreated 1,000-year-old papyri and exposed them to conditions that would simulate years of wear, as well as fungal species that would damage them. The scrolls had red, blue and yellow pigments on them, the team added.

They then created a special mixture by combining water and wasabi powder to treat the infected scrolls. Researchers put the wasabi on aluminum foil close to the papyrus, letting the replica scrolls be exposed to the vapors.

The findings showed that the wasabi, not only eliminated the contamination but also increased the papyri’s tensile strength by 26 percent. Meanwhile, the vapors did not cause any noticeable damage to the pigments.

Other researchers noted that the study is significant because this preservation method is effective and also eco-friendly, unlike traditional disinfectants.

The Grand Egyptian Museum, located in Giza, Egypt, is already planning to use the new preservation technique to protect its collection of ancient papyri.

This story originally appeared in the March 21, 2024 newsletter, Listen to the Children.