by Dave DeWitt In 1989, with the help of Dr. Ben Villalon of the Texas A&M Agricultural Experiment Station and Dr. Paul W. Bosland of New Mexico State University’s Department of Plant and Environmental Science, I compiled and published the first chile heat scale in Chile Pepper magazine. The heat scale proved to be enormously popular and was reprinted (sometimes …
The Australian ChileTest
by Brian Ruddell Editor’s Note: Brian Ruddell, a New Zealander studying in Australia, was kind enough to write us about High Performance Liquid Chromatography tests that he performed on a number of chiles that he grew in his garden, as well as a famous hot sauce. The ‘Naga Jolokia’ he tested was being sold as “Indian PC 1” and …
It’s Not the Taste Buds That Sense Capsaicin
by Dave DeWitt Seen at Tomasitas, a Santa Fe, NM restaurant Photo by Harald Zoschke I admit it, I was completely wrong. But I have an excuse: I was misled by published articles. For years I have written that the sensitivity in the mouth for capsaicin was controlled by the number of taste buds, and that super-tasters, people with …
Overdosing on Capsaicin
by Dave DeWitt Given the fact that some manufacturers are using one million Scoville Unit oleoresins to manufacture super-hot sauces, the question comes up about the dangers of capsaicin. The biggest danger, of course is death. Is it possible? Can capsaicin kill you in high enough dosages? In order to determine the lethal toxic level of capsaicinoids in animals, and …
Burning in the Mouth, Fire in the Belly: Why Some Like It Hotter Than Others
by Dave DeWitt Excerpted from The Chile Pepper Encyclopedia (William Morrow & Co., 1999). The sensation of heat created by capsaicin in chiles is caused by the irritation of the trigeminal cells, which are pain receptors located in the mouth, nose, and stomach. These sensory neurons release substance P, a neuropeptide chemical messenger that tells the brain about pain …
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