What makes peppers hot

Capsaicin in chili peppers is measured on the Scoville Scale and expressed in terms of Scoville Heat Units. Besides being the source of the heat, or pungency, in chili peppers, capsaicin will cause a burning sensation in any part of the skin or other tissues it contacts. Thus, when a cook is working with cut chili peppers, the capsaicin from their hands can burn their eyes if they should rub their eyes. The white membranes inside a pepper contain the most capsaicin, and the actual flesh of the pepper contains less.

Capsaicin may also stimulate the production of endorphins, which is why some people report experiencing a sense of euphoria when eating spicy foods. Capsaicin is an oil-like compound in the sense that it repels water. Capsaicin is soluble in milk and alcohol, however.

So a sip of cold milk, or to a lesser extent, a cold alcoholic beverage, can soothe the burning feeling from capsaicin. Interestingly, while all mammals are sensitive to capsaicin, making it unappealing to rabbits and other such garden pests, birds are immune to its effects. In fact, he was trying to raise the levels of capsaicinoids, compounds found in peppers, because he believes they have medicinal properties and can help protect against heart disease and cancer.

The most common capsaicinoid is capsaicin, which gives the pepper its fiery edge. After a few successful growing seasons, Currie decided to find out where the pepper ranked on the Scoville scale , which uses Scoville heat units SHU to measure capsaicin.

It was when he teamed up with chemistry professor Cliff Calloway and his team of graduate students at Winthrop University in Rock Hill, South Carolina. According to Currie, the Carolina Reaper ranges between 1. The potent plants — which belong to the capsicum genus in the nightshade family — have been around for thousands of years, originating in Central America and spreading to other continents through trade and globalization.

The heat-causing capsicums have become a dietary staple in cultures all over the world, valued for their flavor and ability to prevent food spoilage in hot climates. It does not end well. Neither does this video of BuzzFeed staffers attempting the same. But some seem to enjoy putting themselves through the spicy pain. They often eat peppers like the Carolina Reaper for fun, participate in deathly hot wing challenges, and show off their spice tolerance at hot sauce expos around the country.

While some can tolerate super hot peppers and champion spicy food for its health benefits, others have less-than-pleasant experiences and even wind up in the emergency room. Whether you love or hate the heat, one thing is certain: the more spice, the more it hurts. What exactly are hot peppers and other spicy foods doing to our bodies, and is it possible to harm yourself by eating too much? And if the heat is painful, why do we love it so much? Capsaicin is an irritant for all mammals, and it causes a burning sensation when it comes into contact with any skin or mucous membrane.

In the mouth, capsaicin bypasses your taste buds and binds to pain receptors on the tongue called TRPV1. Your tongue is like a piece of hot coal and each breath makes you feel like a human flamethrower. As a result, the body will try to cool itself down. That's why you may start panting and feel bullets of sweat rolling down your forehead when eating a super spicy meal.

In addition to cooling things down, your body will also try to rid itself of the fiery substance by ramping up the production of saliva, mucus, and tears. You may also drool and get watery eyes. Spicy food can turn anyone into a snotty, crying mess. And you may instinctively reach for water, but this can just spread the heat. Capsaicin only dissolves in fats, oils, and alcohol. So dairy products like a cold glass of milk or spoonful of ice cream and fat-containing foods like peanut butter and avocados are much more effective for easing the pain.

The good news? That mouth-on-fire feeling only lasts for a limited amount of time. Because the sensation of heat and pain is from a chemical reaction, it will eventually fade once the capsaicin molecules neutralize and stop binding to the receptors. Typically, this takes about 20 minutes, Currie said. There are many types of peppers and some are certainly hotter than others. Select ones that meet your needs. This link features the Worlds 10 hottest pepper s.

Research has shown that fruit from the second node is hotter than fruit picked from other nodes. One common tip is to reduce watering so that the plants are stressed. This is normally done just after fruit set and some suggest giving plants a drink only when the leaves start to droop. Research in hot climates like Mexico, Spain and Thailand have shown that water stress can increase hotness, but testing in California showed that water stress made them milder.

Other researchers have found significant increases in capsaicin due to water stress. Watering peppers less may produce hotter peppers but these plants are sensitive to water levels. Water stress should not happen until after fruit set to ensure the flower is properly pollinated and fruit starts growing.

Waiting until leaves droop is probably too extreme. You might already be under fertilizing. Habanero peppers grown at various nitrogen levels showed the highest capsaicin level at very low nitrogen and at high nitrogen. The low end represented a stress condition. The high nitrogen level produced hot peppers as well as increased flowering and fruiting.

High nitrogen gives you both hotness and high yield. Varying potassium levels had no effect. Similar tests on jalapeno peppers showed a steady increase in capsaicin as the nitrogen level increased. Fertilizer stress did not increase hotness. This study, as well as the one above were done using containers in a greenhouse. There seem to be few field studies that would translate directly to a garden, but the science indicates stressing plants with low nitrogen is not the best way to grow hotter peppers.

A home owner never knows how much nitrogen they have in soil, so it is difficult to manage nitrogen levels. All you can do is use a high nitrogen fertilizer and add extra to hot peppers.

It is believed that sulfur makes peppers hotter. The solution is simple. Put a strike anywhere match in the planting hole and the sulfur in the head of the match will make peppers hotter. Sulfur does add an acrid flavor to things like onions, so maybe people associate this with being hot?

Or they think a hot match will make peppers hot? The chemical formula for capsaicin is C18H27NO3. You will notice it does not contain sulfur, so it is unlikely that sulfur plays a significant role in the plants ability to make capsaicin. A match will have no effect. All plants need some sulfur and if the soil is depleted, adding more will help the plant grow.

Peppers like a slightly acidic soil with a pH of 6 to 6. However, there is no indication that sulfur makes peppers hotter.

The logic goes like this. If you grow sweet and hot peppers together the sweet peppers can pollinate the hot peppers, resulting in fruit that is less hot. First of all, peppers are mostly self-pollinating which means a flower pollinates itself.

It rarely uses pollen from another plant. Secondly, even if the flower is cross pollinated, the fruit will have the characteristics of the mother plant, not those of the father plant. Any collected seed from a cross like this will have properties somewhere between the parents.

The claim is that pepper fruit accumulates more capsaicin as it ages. The longer it is left on the vine, the hotter it gets. Testing of serrano peppers found no change in capsaicin during ripening of the green, yellow and red stages.

The two main capsaicinoids, including capsaicin, increased until day 40 after fruit set in cayenne peppers. This was followed by a sharp decrease and then a more gradual decrease until day Testing three types of hot peppers that are widely used in Mexico, found that capsaicin levels reached a peak at day , from fruit set, in habanero and de arbol and after 40 days in piquin.

After that levels declined. This research indicates that leaving peppers on the vine past days end of the growth period will result in less heat. If you want super hot peppers, harvest them when the fruit stops growing in size.