I’m an avid fan of hot sauce and love all sorts of spicy foods but nothing hits quite like horseradish. It doesn’t burn my tongue like typical hot sauces but it does make my eyes water and nose burn.
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Vegetables in the family of cabbages, mustards, and horseradish all have a chemical defense against grazing animals and insects. Inside of their cells they produce a sugar bonded to an amino acid (glucosinilates), which can be broken down by an enzyme (myrosinase) found in special cells apart from the ones containing the other substance. When something bites/chews/tears the leaves the enzyme is brought into contact with the glucosinilate and breaks a sulfur bond, creating a family of sulfur-bearing compounds called Isothiocyanates.
It’s those Isothiocyanates which make us feel a burn, it’s meant to deter animals from eating the plant, but we as humans developed a taste for it. This isn’t unlike hot peppers which produce capsaicin to deter mammals from eating them, but which humans have decided we like the taste of.
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