WHY
IS PEPPER HOT?
Introduction
Am so sure
that am not the only one who has asked
this question. Does pepper have to be hot? Why is it tasty but yet so hot? In
fact for it to be a pepper it has to have some amount of heat.
The burning sensation that comes with eating chillies has long
fascinated scientists. It also gives us some insight into why chillies may be
associated with cognitive decline: the sensation is the result of plants
evolving to protect themselves against diseases and pests. “While some plants have evolved to become
bitter or spicy to predators, it’s better if the plant can make themselves
toxic, too,” says Kirsten Brandt
Lets now go on to know more about how
hot a pepper can be.
Moruga scorpion.
What is the
limit of the hotness of pepper
The standard
unit for measuring the heat of pepper is Scoville
Heat Units (SHU) based on the concentration of capsaicinoids, among which capsaicin is the predominant component The scale is named
after its creator, American pharmacist Wilbur Scoville, whose 1912 method is known as the Scoville organoleptic test. The Scoville organoleptic test is the most
practical method for estimating SHU and is a subjective assessment derived from
the capsaicinoid sensitivity by people experienced with eating hot chilis.
TABLE SHOWING THE PUNGENCY AND SHU FOR
PEPPER.
|
Pungency
|
SHU
|
|
Very highly pungent
|
Above 80,000
|
|
Highly pungent
|
25,000 to 70,000
|
|
Moderately pungent
|
3,000 to 25,000
|
|
Mildly pungent
|
700 to 3,000
|
|
Non pungent
|
0 to 700
|
The pungency
of the calorina riper is one of the world’s hottest peppers which has a SHU of up 1.6 million to 2.5 million SHU. It is in
the view to get hotter pepper that breeding is still on going to get even
hotter pepper.
Can I ever take too much pepper?
People
involved in active spots have been our challenge in trying to convince them to
patronize pepper, I for one has experienced this in trying to sell out catalyst
pepper, they often complain that after taking pepper they find it difficult to
run well. There is no harm including pepper in your
diet, but make sure to consume it in moderation. Do not have more than 1-2
teaspoon of black pepper every day. Having it in excess can have multiple
side effects
SIDE EFFECTS
-It can lead
to gastric problem and stomach upset.
- Having it an excess can irritation in the intestinal walls.
-Avoid consuming black pepper if you are pregnant as it can
lead to miscarriage.
One or any of the side effect is enough to
make you reduce or stop the consumption of pepper for a little while or for a
very long time.
What is the best form of
consuming pepper?
Pepper comes in powder, like catalyst
pepper, sauce, like bukerbutt pepper.
Dried pepper, lasts longer without any form of preservation while the sauce
pepper has to go with one form of
preservative or another. Also, the sauce pepper may need to under go a little
heat so it can ciik like any other vegetable.
CONCLUTION
The burning
sensation after consumption of pepper is a way of pepper trying to defend
itself from predators, but however I am confident that with a suitable
processing, any pepper can be taken without any
complications. Also the capsaicinoids which is the active part of pepper makes it pretty much
worth taking.
Have you ever seen someone throw up
as a result of taking too much pepper? Why don’t you hit me up on the comment
box.
REFERENCES
Ø E Times lifestyle
Ø Scoville, Wilbur (May 1912). "Note on Capsicums". Journal of the American Pharmaceutical Association.
No comments:
Post a Comment