If there’s one foodstuff that everyone should be required to consume at least once in their life, it’s guaranteed to be chilli peppers. Maybe a cayenne pepper or perhaps a habanero? If you’re particularly brave, you could opt for the one of the world’s hottest chilli peppers, the Naga viper or the Trinidad Moruga. The idea is probably daunting for a lot of unaccustomed chilli eaters out there, so I expect the following meticulous breakdown of the science behind chillies will rid you of any apprehension!
Basically, the “hotness” you experience when you eat chilli is a product of the naturally occurring alkaloid, capsaicin. Capsaicin is actually a mixture of related compounds including dihydrocapsaicin and homocapsaicin which all contribute to that well-known burn. They’re all very stable compounds so are unaffected by heat, hence why chillies stay extremely hot, even when cooked!
When you eat a chilli, these compounds bind to the sensory receptor, TRPV1, which sends a nociceptive (pain) signal to your brain. In some cases the TRPV1 receptor is expressed on temperature-receptive nerve fibres, so although it might feel as though your mouth is on fire, there’s most probably no tissue damage; it’s your brain playing a cruel trick on you.
So then, the age old question – how do you get rid of the burn? First of all – and a lot of you probably know this already – WATER DOES NOT HELP. At least not initially; once you’ve ingested the capsaicin it probably does help, mainly due to its coldness. Remember, capsaicin is lipid-soluble, meaning it dissolves in fatty things. Hence the reason for many chilli-heads chowing down on frozen yoghurt and full cream milk after a contest. If you’ve got a strong stomach I’d suggest having a shot or two or olive oil, considering it is made almost entirely of fatty acids.
The rating system for chilli heat is the Scoville heat scale. Your humble jalapeño pepper sits at around 4000 scoville heat units (which is still relatively hot for some people!), and the Tabasco pepper at approximately 40,000. The Trinidad Moruga, however, tips the Scoville at almost 2,000,000! That shit is whack. Funnily enough, the pepper sauce used on Hell’s “Pizza roulette” is from a special reserve, called Blair’s 3am, and is reputedly in excess of 1,500,000 Scoville heat units. Give it a go, and don’t forget your olive oil!
– Geekology_qanda@live.com
Geekology | Issue 11
