Vapor pressure and stability of allyl isothiocyanate

• Published in: Food Hygiene and Safety Science (Shokuhin Eiseigaku Zasshi) Vol. 35; no. 4; pp. 365 - 370_1
• Main Authors: Sekiyama, Y. (Green Cross Corp., Osaka (Japan)), Mizukami, Y, Takada, A, Numata, S
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Japanese Society for Food Hygiene and Safety 1994
• Subjects: alcohol; allyl isothiocyanate; CHEMICOPHYSICAL PROPERTIES; ETANOL; ETHANOL; MOSTAZA; MOUTARDE; MUSTARD; physical properties; PRESSION DE VAPEUR; PROPIEDADES FISICO-QUIMICAS; PROPRIETE PHYSICOCHIMIQUE; stability; TENSION DE VAPOR; THIOCYANATE; THIOCYANATES; TIOCIANATOS; vapor pressure; VAPOUR PRESSURE
• ISSN: 0015-6426; 1882-1006
• DOI: 10.3358/shokueishi.35.365

Allyl isothiocyanate, a main flavoring constituent of wasabi and mustard, is known to have strong antimicrobial activity. A study was made of the vapor pressure changes and the stability under various conditions of this substance as part of a research program aimed at producing a preparation which would allow exploitation of its antibacterial effect for industrial purposes. It was found that the vapor pressures of allyl isothiocyanate at relative humidities of 0 and 80% were almost the same, and that vapor pressure could be controlled through dilution with non-volatile oils such as ODO (MCT: medium chain triglyceride). The investigation of stability revealed that, after one year's storage at room temperature, the residual level of allyl isothiocyanate was more than 90%. Further improvement of its stability was observed when the head space gas was replaced with nitrogen. In the presence of ethanol, allyl isothiocyanate produced an additional compound, and for this reason it was considered that the development of a preparation based on a mixture of these two substances would be impractical. Heat treatment caused allyl isothiocyanate to decompose rapidly at temperatures between 170 and 180°C, indicating that processing at temperatures of this level and above might not be feasible.