Chemists measure chilli sauce hotness with nanotubes

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

[Red Badger]

OOOH! That looks great! Probably not sold around here......

[Interesting Times]

Ping.

[Red Badger]

That’s probably why the UK non-Asian birthrate is falling........

[blam]

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

Hot peppers the world over can trace their origins to the Caribbean.

[Abathar]

If their hygiene in other places is the same as their dental I can believe that!

[myprecious]

I can never follow a receipe or make something the same way twice. That is even more reason to use a tool like this to give me some measure of consistency. When you cook according to the way the wind blows, it would help to have a "compass".

[Eric in the Ozarks]

The little orange habanjeros are hotter than Thai peppers. I dry these and grind them to add heat to my chili, soups, ribs, etc.

[Free Vulcan]

That’s just messed up.

[doodad]

Cool, send some of that my way!

[Red Badger]

http://www.g6csy.net/chile/var-p.html

[Jonah Hex]

A measurement scale already exists for measuring chili hotness:

1. Spicy
2. Slight burn, eyes water
3. What the hell is this stuff?! You could remove dried paint from your driveway.
4. Keep this out of the reach of children. I'm not sure what I'm supposed to taste besides pain.
5. Call the EPA, I've located a uranium spill. My nose feels like I have been snorting Drano.
6. I felt something scraping across my tongue, but was unable to taste it. Is it possible to burn out taste buds?
7. My ears are ringing, sweat is pouring off my forehead, and I can no longer focus my eyes.
8. My intestines are now a straight pipe filled with gaseous, sulfuring flames.
9. You could put a grenade in my mouth, pull the pin, and I wouldn't feel a thing.
10. Oh my g....

[Red Badger]

Hot peppers the world over can trace their origins to the Caribbean.

Yes, many food plants were discovered in the New World and are now "staples" the world over. Tomatoes, Potatoes, Peppers, Corn, Vanilla, Chocolate, Sugarcane, and many types of beans. Makes you wonder what there was to eat before Columbus! Onions and Cabbage?...........

[Red Badger]

Top of the scale.......

[Wonder Warthog]

Methinks this will have the same problem that most other electrochemical techniques do----lack of specificity.

HPLC is still the method of choice, IMHO.

[Red Badger]

It’s new technology. We’ll haveta give it a chance to play out........

[ZX12R]

Wow...there just isn’t much you can’t do with nanotubes these days.

[Red Badger]

For the latest nanotechnology:

http://nanotech.physorg.com/

[Wonder Warthog]

"It’s new technology. We’ll haveta give it a chance to play out........"

True. But I'm basing my opinion on forty years as a practicing analytical chemist. Electrochemical sensors historically have suffered from a lack of specificity, and are most successful when coupled with liquid chromatography, with the EC detector providing high sensitivity, and the LC providing the needed selectivity. LC-EC is a majorly successful analytical tool. Not as successful is gas chromatography, but certainly hugely useful.

[Red Badger]

I think this particular technology’s claim to fame will be:
Cheap, quick, easy, disposable..........

[B-Chan]

I have no use for the kind of macho hotter-than-thou posturing prevalent these days; I am a native Texan and chiles are just part of everyday cooking as far as I am concerned. I love Habaneros, though — not just for their tongue-punishing heat, but for their delicious, almost fruity flavor.

My second favorite peppers are Hatch chiles chipotle. Sabroso...