What Makes a Chili Pepper Hot?
The burning sensation that makes chili peppers so appealing to culinary thrill-seekers comes from a bitter, acrid alkaloid named capsaicin (or more accurately a collection of compounds called capsaicinoids). Its presence depends on a single gene. Bell peppers, jalapeno peppers and Serrano peppers are all chili peppers, but bell peppers don't have the fiery taste because they lack that gene.
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| - The Chemical Structure of Capsaicin - |
Pure capsaicin comes in at over 16 million Scoville Units (measurement of chili "heat")! Capsaicin is found in its highest concentrations (about 80% of the total amount) in the ribs of the pepper, and because of their proximity, the seeds are also highly concentrated. Removing the ribs and seeds will reduce the heat of the chili pepper. Capsaicin is also distributed in smaller amounts throughout the flesh of the chili pepper, and because it's distributed unevenly it's common for some areas of a pepper to be hotter than others.
Capsaicin stimulates the nerve endings in your mouth, fooling your brain into thinking you're in pain. The brain responds by releasing substances called endorphins, which are similar in structure to morphine. A mild euphoria results, and chilies can be mildly addictive because of this hot pepper "high".
Although most chili peppers are indigenous to South America, they are used and grown around the world. Hot peppers are used in abundance in Mexican, South American, Indonesian, African and Oriental cooking, while the milder peppers are common in European and North American recipes.
The chief misconception about chili peppers is that they are all red-hot. Many are fiery hot, but many others are sweet, mild, or richly flavored. Their hotness is concentrated in the interior veins or ribs near the seed heart, not in the seeds as is commonly believed (the seeds taste extra hot because they are in close contact with the hot veins).
The one thing that all chili peppers share is the common name "capsicum" (pronounced KAP-sih-kuhm). Capsicum, from the Greek kapto meaning "to bite," is the pepper genus. The five big species of chili peppers are:
- Capsicum annuum-including most of the common varieties like the jalapeno and bell peppers
- Capsicum baccatum-including the berry-like South American chili peppers, aji
- Capsicum chinense-including the fiery habanero
- Capsicum frutescens-including the bushy pepper plants like tabasco
- Capsicum pubescens-including the South American rocoto peppers.
Measuring the Heat of Hot Peppers
Chili pepper heat is measured in Scoville Units. Developed by Wilbur Scoville in 1912, Scoville Units measure chili pepper heat (capsaicinoid content) in multiples of 100, with the bell peppers at 0 and the habanero at over 300,000 Scoville Units.
The Scoville Unit rating of a pepper is determined by a dilution taste test. Pure ground chili peppers are blended with a sugar-water solution. A panel of testers sips the mixture in increasingly diluted concentrations until it no longer burns the mouth. The Scoville Unit number is based on how much the ground chili needs to be diluted before no heat is detected. (Nowadays, liquid chromatography, rather than Scoville's dilution taste test, is used to evaluate the heat of chili peppers.)
Measuring by Scoville Units is very subjective. To achieve a rating, it takes three out of five people to taste the heat in a diluted solution of alcohol and sugar water. The ratio of dilution is the Scoville Unit. For example, the Chiltepin is usually detected by 60 percent of the testers when diluted at a ratio of 1 part to 50,000 parts solution (1:50,000 and up to 1:100,000).
A more modern version used by many chili writers is called "the Official Chili Pepper Heat Scale" with a rating of zero to ten. Bell peppers rate a zero because they contain no capsaicinoid. At a 5 rating: jalapeno peppers…at a 6 rating serrano peppers… at a 8 rating cayenne peppers and tabasco peppers… and at a 9 rating chalet pin peppers and Thai hot peppers.
To see the Scoville Scale and the "Official Chili Pepper Heat Scale" click on the following link:
Chili Heat Scales
What is the hottest Chili Pepper on Record?
According to the Guinness Book of World Records, the Red SavinaTM Habanero is the hottest pepper on Earth with a rating of 570,000 Scoville Heat Units.
Use Caution In Handling And Storing Chili Peppers and Hot Sauces
When using fresh or dried chili peppers, wear gloves to protect your hands because the oils, capsaicin*, in the peppers can cause severe burns. Don't touch your face or eyes. If chilies do come in contact with your bare hands, wash thoroughly with soapy water. When grinding dried chilies, beware of the chili dust in the air, which will irritate eyes and throats.
Capsaicin is the heat factor in chilies that is used medically to produce deep-heating rubs for treating sports injuries and arthritic therapies.
