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Who was Wilbur Scoville? The science behind what makes chillies so hot
The Telegraph ^ | January 22, 2016 | Keely Lockhart

Posted on 01/22/2016 5:00:53 AM PST by beaversmom

Hot chilli peppers have been credited with helping to lose weight, inducing labour and relieving pain. But until Wilbur Scoville, there was no objective way of measuring how hot chillies really are.

Scoville, an American chemist born 151 years ago on Friday, is responsible for the "Scoville organoleptic test", a scale of "hotness" that has been the definitive rating of how spicy a chilli is for more than 100 years.

On his birthday, Google has saluted Scoville with an interactive Doodle that asks visitors to assist his experiments by cooling the chillies' heat.


(Excerpt) Read more at telegraph.co.uk ...


TOPICS: Education; Food; History; Science
KEYWORDS: googlecrap; keelylockhart; wilburscoville
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1 posted on 01/22/2016 5:00:53 AM PST by beaversmom
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To: beaversmom

I like spicy hot food, but when it is so hot it makes eating unpleasant what is the point?


2 posted on 01/22/2016 5:10:15 AM PST by disndat (yousit ore loosit)
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To: beaversmom

Mm mm peppers.


3 posted on 01/22/2016 5:10:49 AM PST by MrEdd (Heck? Geewhiz Cripes, thats the place where people who don't believe in Gosh think they aint going.)
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To: disndat

I agree with you. I can only do so much.


4 posted on 01/22/2016 5:20:18 AM PST by beaversmom
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To: beaversmom

The funniest take I ever saw on Scoville was a Grrl Power comic strip.

http://grrlpowercomic.com/archives/192


5 posted on 01/22/2016 5:29:20 AM PST by wbarmy (I chose to be a sheepdog once I saw what happens to the sheep.)
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To: beaversmom; Larry Lucido; SaveFerris; PROCON; FredZarguna; mylife; Lil Flower

George likes his chicken spicy!


6 posted on 01/22/2016 5:30:51 AM PST by Gamecock ( Do not be afraid of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul...Matthew 10:28)
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To: beaversmom

I used to run the Scoville Test for a major food company. The trouble is that it doesn’t work very well. Usually, I’d end up just looking up what the value is “supposed” to be and entering that.

And that’s what everyone else in the lab did too.


7 posted on 01/22/2016 5:36:26 AM PST by JoeDetweiler
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To: JoeDetweiler

Interesting. Can you explain to a non-scientific person why it doesn’t work that well?


8 posted on 01/22/2016 5:37:54 AM PST by beaversmom
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To: disndat
The Triple Atomic wings at Quaker Steak and Lube are really, really hot.

So hot, they leave an exit wound...

9 posted on 01/22/2016 5:41:24 AM PST by BlueMondaySkipper (Involuntarily subsidizing the parasite class since 1981)
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To: disndat
I like spicy hot food, but when it is so hot it makes eating unpleasant what is the point?

My Wife and I subscribe to the "If I Ain't Crying...I Ain't Enjoyin'" group! We have Ghost Pepper plants and ONE very small pepper will do for a large pot of chili!!!

10 posted on 01/22/2016 5:48:17 AM PST by ExSES (the "bottom-line")
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To: beaversmom

Well...the test involves mashing the peppers up and boiling them in alcohol to extract the “Hot” part....the capsaicin. Then you do a series of dilutions on the alcohol....1/100...1/1000...etc

Then you use a dropper to spray a little of each dilution onto the back of your throat and decide what is the weakest dilution where you can first notice some “heat.” And that’s the problem. It’s very subjective. Different people will notice the heat at different dilutions. And each person will vary in their sensitivity from one day to the next.

Personally, I could never pick up any heat until it was very strong. Which is odd, because I’m a real wimp when it comes to hot peppers.


11 posted on 01/22/2016 5:56:05 AM PST by JoeDetweiler
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To: ExSES

I have Brazilian rainbow pepper plants, maybe not super hot, but boy are they pretty.


12 posted on 01/22/2016 5:56:26 AM PST by cotton (one way, one truth, the life.)
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To: JoeDetweiler

Thanks for the explanation. :)


13 posted on 01/22/2016 6:01:07 AM PST by beaversmom
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To: beaversmom

Hatch chilies from New Mexico are my addiction. Exploding flavor with plenty sufficient heat.


14 posted on 01/22/2016 6:09:00 AM PST by Delta 21 (Patiently waiting for the jack booted kick at my door.)
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To: disndat

Hypothetically, you may be right.


15 posted on 01/22/2016 6:23:55 AM PST by gorush (History repeats itself because human nature is static)
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To: JoeDetweiler

You would think that the capsaicin could be eluded through a chromatograph to more precise detection.


16 posted on 01/22/2016 6:55:25 AM PST by Cletus.D.Yokel (Catastrophic Anthropogenic Climate Alterations: The acronym defines the science.)
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To: beaversmom
Red cayenne pepper becomes a laxative when i consume food that is literally (and intentionally) infested with it.

At some point in the digestive process it goes rogue.

17 posted on 01/22/2016 6:55:54 AM PST by capt. norm (If you can't make them see the light, let them feel the heat!)
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To: Cletus.D.Yokel

Well, a quick check of the scientific literature ....er....uh....Wikipedia says:

“Since at least the 1980s, spice heat has been more precisely measured by a method that uses high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC).” (Do I feel old? Yes!)

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scoville_scale

Though I think this is not technically a Scoville Test.


18 posted on 01/22/2016 7:22:35 AM PST by JoeDetweiler
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To: Delta 21

I made a jam once from open-coal roasted Hatch chilies, green onions and mango. Used pectin to cause it to set.

Ratio was
85% Roasted Hatch
10% Onion
5% Diced Mango

Not bad, but really, not marketable.


19 posted on 01/22/2016 7:42:09 AM PST by Cletus.D.Yokel (Catastrophic Anthropogenic Climate Alterations: The acronym defines the science.)
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To: beaversmom
This stuff needs a HazMat symbol, but da-yum, it IS good.

(At some big grocers or online from Wal-Mart.)

20 posted on 01/22/2016 8:25:13 AM PST by Oatka (Beware of an old man in a profession where men usually die young.)
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