Chemists measure chilli sauce hotness with nanotubes

www.physorg.com ^ | 05/08/2008 | Source: Oxford University

[Red Badger]

Before anyone complains about the spelling, it's British......

[Eric in the Ozarks]

They have chili in the UK ?

[CarrotAndStick]

They probably eat more curry per-capita, than Indians, now.

[dmz]

Talk about taking all the fun out of eating spicy foods ...

[Red Badger]

Chili peppers are all over the world. Try some Thai peppers sometime. They must be off the scale hot!........

[svcw]

I surprised also. I did not know there was any food with flavor.

[Red Badger]

No, just the opposite! Now you’ll be able to measure your scale of “hotness” and document your progress. I, and many others, seek hotter and hotter peppers and recipes. Until now, all we had to go by was our own “tastes” but that is so variable from person to person and even to oneself on different days. I would assume that eventually they will develop a scientific consumer scale, not the Scoville scale since it’s so huge, that people can read on the labels.......

[myprecious]

I would love to have a way to get consistency when I put up salsa and hot sauce this summer from the garden. After a severl tastings on canning day, my “sensor” gets numb and I have a hard time getting it right. This would be a big help.

[Abathar]

All I know is whatever the peppers are put in it will be way overcooked and mushy.

[Red Badger]

That is the fault of the cook. Perhaps Brits don’t like “al dente” because they have no “dente”............

[r9etb]

In Compton’s method, the capsaicinoids are adsorbed onto multi-walled carbon nanotube (MWCNT) electrodes. The team measures the current change as the capsaicinoids are oxidised by an electrochemical reaction, and this reading can be translated into Scoville units. The technique is called adsorptive stripping voltammetry (ASV), and is a relatively simple electrochemical method.

This could be adapted for numerous other "chemical level" tests.

[Abathar]

I was picturing their teeth when I said that...

[TXnMA]

After a severl tastings on canning day, my “sensor” gets numb and I have a hard time getting it right.

As a confirmed "chili-head", I have a similar problem: dishes that are "mild" to me seem to make others roll on the floor in agony -- especially if I have been taste-testing as I cook...

[Red Badger]

[Red Badger]

As a confirmed "chili-head", I have a similar problem: dishes that are "mild" to me seem to make others roll on the floor in agony -- especially if I have been taste-testing as I cook..

Exactly! People have a tolerance that waxes up and wanes with time. If you eat jalapeños daily, eventually they will be "mild" to you. But stop eating them for a month and they'll be hot all over again!.....

[Abathar]

I would be surprised if other food ingredients wouldn’t alter the tests though.

I can’t believe that in the variety of chemicals found just in different hot sauces alone there aren’t other compounds that will oxidize along with the capsaicinoids to skew the results.

[dmz]

It takes all kinds. I annoy my wife and kids (who enjoy consistency) because I (the primary cook) prefer the unknown, and want things to taste different each time.

As Thoreau said ‘the only people who get anywhere interesting are the people who get lost’.

[evets]

Habanero.... beer.

[Abathar]

Just imagine his wife having to kiss that... *shudder*

[Red Badger]

This could be adapted for numerous other "chemical level" tests.

Yes, I was thinking of that, too. Sweetness, Sourness, Bitterness, etc........