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It is the fire that counts
The most unique feature of chilies is their pungency, called "heat." The pungency is possibly
a natural protection against the wrong animals eating the fruit, animals that won't help spreading the
seeds. Birds eat peppers without any ill effect, the seeds pass through their digestive systems whole,
and that is how peppers spread in the wild. But that built-in natural protection fails on humans who
eat them, no matter how much it hurts.
Pungent chilies are both antibiotic and preservative. They preserve meat by retarding the
oxidation of fats (rancid flavor), but they also hide the off taste of not-very-fresh food. Scientists
also determined that capsaicin, the chemical that causes chili's heat, forces the body to release
serotonin, a chemical that lowers body temperature by inducing sweating and bringing blood to the
face, both for dissipating body heat faster. All of these would explain why chili eaters are mainly in
hot climate.
The mystery of why they have become so popular in North America still remains.
Psychologists and physiologists have explored reasons why people endure the pain of eating hot
chilies, but haven't produced many satisfactory explanations. Some compare eating hot chilies to
embarking on perilous adventures without the danger. Others claim the secretion of pain-relieving
endorphins in the brain triggered by very pungent food produce an opiate substance and its
pleasurable after-effect.
Whatever the reason, once you develop a taste for pungent food, your body and soul crave it
in spite of the runny nose, teary eyes, burning mouth and rumbling stomach, which are common
side effects.
A group of six chemicals called capsaicinoids cause chili’s pungency. The dominant
compound is capsaicin. Each of the six chemicals has a different effect on the palate and the mouth.
Some give a slow but long-lasting burning sensation. Others produce a rapid, powerful burn that
sends you immediately for water, tortilla, beer, anything that may help to put the fire out. Depending
on the ratio of these six chemicals, each chili has different burning sensation and pain in the mouth.
But all these sensations are relatively and mercifully short-lived.
Capsaicin is almost entirely in the veins (also called placenta) inside the chilies. The seeds
and flesh contain very little or none. You can prove this by carefully removing a seed from a hot
chili, making sure that it doesn't touch a rib, put it in your mouth and chew it. You should feel
nothing but the tiniest pungency. The most capsaicin is near the stem end of the chili. The tip is
usually a little milder. The capsaicin content doesn't increase much with the ripening process, so
unripe chilies can be as hot as ripe.
How hot is your chili?
Food scientists and chili aficionados used to rate the pungency of chilies subjectively by
having trained tasters test and compare them. The problem with human tasters is that the taste buds
fade over a relatively short time, and they need to recuperate often. They desperately needed a more
scientifically-based pungency test.
An American pharmacist named Wilbur Scoville finally came up with the first usable rating
in 1911. Modern science has added instrumentation to the rating system. In the Scoville test, the
chemist dissolves the capsaicinoids from the chili, then dilutes it with water. What rates each chili
is, with how much water the chemist needs to dilute the sample to a standard degree of pungency. If
one unit of water is used, the chili is said to have the pungency of 1 Scoville unit, that is a barely
play © erdosh 147
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