La Scoville itch scale was born to study chili peppers regardless of the subjective human palate. Find out below the secrets of the capsaicin. Did you know that birds don't feel the itch? Would you eat a chilli 30 times hotter than the tabasco? Discover the science of itching.
Capsaicin in water and sugar
It all started in the year 1912. The American Chemist Willbur scoville, from Connecticut, set out to find out why some foods were biting and others were not. At that time they only attributed this property to peppers depending on the growing method or habitat. He, however, focused his research on the chemical composition. This is how he discovered capsaicin, a substance we discussed in our article on Chipotle sauce.
What is it about? It is a component that causes that characteristic feeling that you love or hate. Curiously, it only produces it if you are a mammal. Therefore, birds can get their fill of tabasco without batting an eyelid. Scoville employed a solution composed water and sugar to calculate the concentration of this substance. So, I dipped the chillies or chilies in it. The longer it takes dilute the spiciest capsaicin was. In this way, he managed to order a series of foods on a unit-based scale with his last name as the first name.
The minimum of SHU, acronym in English Scoville Heat Units, which can have a pepper is zero. These are sweet peppers. In contrast, the hottest pepper contains up to 3.180.000 units! Pure capsaicin contains 15 million and cannot be found in nature. To give you a better idea, we are going to give you some examples. Let's see if you can imagine the burning produced by the top of the pyramid ...
The Scoville Hotness Scale podium
At the top is a product that is not edible. It is about the famous police pepper spray used to defend against violent assailants. Your itch level is 5.300.000 SHU. Imagine it in your eyes knowing that Tabasco has a level of 30.000-50.000 units! The one available for non-uniformed people is "only" two million.
The hottest edible product today is the pepper known as Pepper X. Its itching level is the one mentioned above. Follow him Dragon's Breath with 2.480.000 SHUs. In third place we find 7-Pot Douglas with 1.853.936 SHUs. Carolina reaper is one of the most famous because it ranked first with 1.569.383 SHUs during years. Finally we will make a mention of 7 Prime Pot, 1469000 SHUs. All of them are the result of different crosses that are intended to magnify the flavor.
There are others that we consider spicy but that do not even come close to these levels. Names like chile jalapeno they do not correspond to bombastic marketing quips. This last example has an itch between 2.500 y 5.000 SHUs. For its part, the poblano bites between 1.000 y 1.500 UHS. The cayenne and chipotle have the same level of itchiness as the Tabasco (30.000-50.000). If the figures for the latter scare you, the time has not come to try the ones above. The Scoville itch scale offers terrifying possibilities.
As for the culinary applications of the former, we must say that they are limited. Very few people are able to finish such a spicy dish. At the thai premises Oam thong in Madrid only two people had managed to finish their dish known as El Infierno. This veal preparation was designed by the chef Pohai chiu using the infamous Trinity scorpion. Many cry, shout, run to the service ... There is a reason why this type of gastronomy is not widely used. It's about food for brave.
Is this method reliable?
Although it is the most used in restaurants, we must recognize that it is something archaic. Today's technology allows for much more precise analysis. That is why in 1980 the system of high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC). Since you are likely unfamiliar with chemistry labs, we'll explain it to you. The technique separates the components of a mixture. For this it is based on different types of chemical interactions between the substances analyzed and a chromatographic column. The latter contains a solid absorbent.
Capsaicin benefits
The higher the proportion of capsaicin, the greater the amount of benefits. At least if your stomach tolerates the levels you put in it. You can reduce pain by activating the sympathetic nervous system. Paradoxically, the burning that it causes in the mouth is due to the activation of the nociceptors. These are responsible for the pain. It is also a anti-inflammatory useful and a antifungal that prevents its growth. It has also been useful in some studies in destroying cells carcinogenic.
However, the researchers recommend caution and rule it out for cancers of the digestive system. What is good for is for burn fat. This phenomenon takes place due to oxidative stress in cells. They suffer damage (iniquitous to the body) that requires a little more energy to be repaired.
In short, spicy can be good for your health. However, you can have a really bad time if you exceed your tolerance limits for it. Hopefully the Scoville itch scale serve to guide you.
