Chili Peppers Addendum

Last Friday’s blog post, Add Some Spice, reviewed potential health benefits of spicy foods, specifically chili peppers, without saying much about chili peppers. I thought I’d remedy that in today’s addendum.

Chili Peppers

I did mention that there are many, many chili peppers. They originated in the Americas, and though there are only five major cultivated species within the genus Capsicum, there are thousands of cultivars (e.g., Peruvian White, Red Savina, Yucatan White or TigerPaw-NR Habaneros) and hundreds of commonly used peppers. To add to the fun, chili peppers may have different names in different regions, and every so often someone produces a new one, cross-breeding to make it hotter, for example, than the rest.

As noted in Friday’s post, that spicy heat, which rises from none in sweet peppers to call the fire department! in hotter peppers, is caused by capsaicinoids, a group of chemicals of which capsaicin is the most common.

Examples of sweet peppers from Karl Foord (blog.lib.umn.edu/efans/ygnews/2011/08/post-15.html)

Scoville Heat Units

The Scoville test and scale have been the accepted method for categorizing chili peppers’ intensity since the test’s development in 1912. For the test, an alcohol extract of capsaicin from a defined weight of dried pepper is added to a solution of sugar in water until the majority of trained tasters can detect the heat.

The Scoville scale is based on the measured dilution and is in Scoville heat units (SHU). Peppers range from 0 SHU, for those with no capsaicin, to the hottest, which is currently over 2 million SHU; pure capsaicin is 16 million SHU.

High-Performance Liquid Chromatography

Given the imprecision of organoleptic testing (i.e., those that rely on human senses such as taste), there’s been a shift to more accurate and objective lab measurement with high-performance liquid chromatography. Although more expensive, HPLC can provide total heat and break out specific capsaicinoids.

Different testing labs offer one or the other, or both methods, and the American Spice Trade Association (ASTA) publishes the HPLC procedure accepted by the spice industry. ASTA also has a conversion of HPLC measurements to approximate SHU ratings, though the estimates have been judged to be low by 20% to 40%.

Selected Chili Pepper Ratings

For your ranking pleasure, here are the Scoville ratings of a handful of chili peppers whose names you’ll likely recognize plus the current hottest. They represent three species of Capsicum. Wikipedia and various websites (see P.S.) have long lists of peppers with detailed information should you wish to explore.

Capsicum annuum

Banana or Yellow Wax Pepper, 0-500 SHU (photo from www.chilipeppermadness.com/chili-pepper-types.html#.VHD71snqOUk)

Pimento or Cherry Pepper, 100-500 SHU (photo from www.chilipeppermadness.com/chili-pepper-types.html#.VHD71snqOUk)

Jalapeño Pepper, 2,500-10,000 SHU (photo from www.cayennediane.com/BigListofPeppers/Big-List-of-peppers.html)
Note that chipotle is a smoke-dried ripe jalapeño.

 

Cayenne Pepper, 30,000-50,000 SHU (photo from
www.cayennediane.com/BigListofPeppers/Big-List-of-peppers.html)

Capsicum frutescens

Tabasco Peppers, 30,000-50,000 SHU (photo from
www.chilipeppermadness.com/chili-pepper-types.html#.VHD71snqOUk)

Capsicum chinense

Habanero Pepper, 100,000-350,000 SHU (photo from commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File%3AHabanero_chile_-_flower_with_fruit_%28aka%29.jpg)

Carolina Reaper Peppers, 1,569,383-2,200,000 SHU (photo from
commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File%3ACarolina_Reaper_pepper_pods.jpg)

P.S.

Background on testing and scale:
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scoville_scale
aces.nmsu.edu/pubs/_h/H237/
www.princeton.edu/~achaney/tmve/wiki100k/docs/Scoville_scale.html
www.astaspice.org/food-safety/astas-analytical-methods-manual/

Example websites with lists of chile peppers:
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Capsicum_cultivars
www.cayennediane.com/BigListofPeppers/Big-List-of-peppers.html
www.chilipeppermadness.com/chili-pepper-types.html#.VHD71snqOUk
scovillescaleforpeppers.com/ (need to paste in browser)
www.scottrobertsweb.com/scoville-scale/ (mostly hot sauces)

Add Some Spice

Pizza Hut’s new 7-Alarm Fire™
specialty pizza has four
different peppers and a fiery
red pepper flavored crust. (from:
order.pizzahut.com/flavorofnow)

Welcome back. Have you heard about Pizza Hut’s new fare? Along with marketing gimmicks like fresh red onions instead of red onions, they’ve added new specialty pizzas and options for base sauce, crust flavor and drizzle topping. And they’ve spiced up the menu. You can now order a 7-Alarm Fire™ pizza or ask for any pizza with, say, a spicy and bold Buffalo sauce, a Fiery Red Pepper crust flavor or maybe a Honey Sriracha drizzle topping.

Coincidentally, last summer, Time magazine’s online newsletter had an article telling me to eat more spicy food. The writer, of course, didn’t know I stopped piling on jalapeños at the salad bar years ago because of heartburn. Well, I think it was heartburn; I was diagnosing from TV ads.

Anyway, the Time article said that spicy food might (1) reduce the risk for tumors, (2) improve one’s sex life and (3) help with weight loss. I figured I’d better check that out, you know, before heading to the closest Pizza Hut.

Tumor Risk

Capsaicinoids are a group of chemicals that are the active ingredient in chili peppers; capsaicin is the most common.

Some of the many, many chili peppers. (digginginthedriftless.com/2011/03/25/the-brave-new-world-of-not-so-hot-peppers/)

The Time article pointed to a recent collaborative study led by researchers from the University of California San Diego. The investigators fed capsaicin to mice that were genetically prone to developing multiple tumors in their gastrointestinal tract. The capsaicin activated a receptor (TRPV1) on cells that lined the mice intestines, triggering a reaction that reduced the risk of colorectal tumors and extended the mice lifespans by over 30 percent.

Future clinical studies still need to address a direct association between the receptor function and human colorectal cancer.

Sex Life

Here, the Time article cited a scientific review by researchers at the University of Guelph in Canada. They found certain foods show the positive effects of natural aphrodisiacs, but that further research was needed to determine doses, potential toxicities and appropriate method of delivery.

While the review was comprehensive, it was published in 2011. Given such an earthshaking topic, I was surprised the Time writer couldn’t find more recent work. I looked and sadly decided to forget this spicy benefit.

The Mayo Clinic, for example, notes that research with spicy and other foods that are thought of as natural aphrodisiacs has shown them to be largely ineffective at producing a sexual response in men or women.

Last April, the Food and Drug Administration stated, “Labeling claims for aphrodisiacs for OTC [over the counter] use are either false, misleading, or unsupported by scientific data.”

Weight Loss

The Time writer’s reliance on older research carried over to weight-loss, citing studies from 2010 and 2011. Though aphrodisiacs are a hotter topic, I suspected there would be more recent work on weight loss. I was correct; however, the little I found (see P.S.) supported earlier studies that capsaicinoids could indeed play a beneficial role in weight management.

We typically eat spicy foods in small quantities and other foods will likely have a greater effect on weight loss; but two areas of potential benefit of capsaicinoids are increased energy expenditure and reduced appetite. Long-term, randomized trials with larger numbers of participants are needed.

Wrap Up

The Time article also cited a food industry report that more consumers, especially those between 18 and 34, are opting for hot or spicy foods.

You’re aware that restaurants offering cuisines, such as those from Mexico, China, India or Thailand, have always included hot and spicy dishes, yet you may not be aware that many fast-food restaurants have lately added spicy sandwiches or the like. I’ll go out on a limb and posit that the shift in consumer demand, not health benefits, is why Pizza Hut made the move.

Thanks for stopping by. I hope I’ve spiced up your life.

P.S.

Capsaicin isn’t just added to food.
(photo from multiple websites)

Time article on spicy food: time.com/3063763/3-reasons-you-should-eat-more-spicy-food/
Tumor risk study in Journal of Clinical Investigation and press release:
www.jci.org/articles/view/72340
www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2014-08/uoc--pah072814.php
Aphrodisiac study in Food Research International, review article and later notes from Mayo Clinic and FDA:
www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0963996911001451
healthland.time.com/2011/04/13/ginseng-saffron-good-sex-aphrodisiacs-found-in-common-spices/
www.mayoclinic.org/healthy-living/sexual-health/expert-answers/natural-aphrodisiacs/faq-20058252
www.accessdata.fda.gov/scripts/cdrh/cfdocs/cfcfr/cfrsearch.cfm?fr=310.528
Time-cited studies on weight loss:
healthland.time.com/2010/04/28/spicy-research-peppers-may-help-burn-calories/
healthland.time.com/2011/04/26/diet-food-red-hot-chili-peppers-may-help-curb-appetite/
Later research on weight loss in Appetite and PLOS One and summary article:
www.livestrong.com/article/421532-can-spicy-food-help-you-lose-weight/
www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22634197
www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0195666313004492
www.plosone.org/article/info%3Adoi%2F10.1371%2Fjournal.pone.0067786
Time article on fast-food trends: 
business.time.com/2014/01/03/why-spicy-is-the-most-profitable-new-trend-in-food/