Why is it Spicy?

Spicy, or pungency, we all know the flavor but what is it that makes certain foods spicy? Why is it that certain food seems to be spicy on the tongue while some flavors hit your sinuses, (looking at you wasabi)?

There are two main compounds at work when these types of flavors hit your tongue, Allyl Isothiocyanate, and the more familiar, Capsaicin. Here is a top down view of how they work.

Capsaicin

Capsaicin, and the capsaicinoids, are the common “heat” compounds found in most chili peppers. It is what gives everything from cayenne pepper to jalapenos their distinctive and pungent flavor. Scientists rate these and other Peppers in Scoville Units. These Scoville units help consumers to determine how hot on a scale of zero to over three million.

Some common peppers and their estimated Scoville rating:

1. Bell Peppers, Pimentos are 0 Scoville = No heat whatsoever
2. Cubanelles, Banana Peppers are 100 – 1000 = A light tingle
3. Jalapenos, Guajillo pepper are 1000 – 10,000 = A bit of a bite to “that’s hot”
4. Cayenne are 10,000 – 100,000 = Getting very serious, start small
5. Scotch Bonnet, Habanero are 100,000 – 350,000 = Handle with care, treat with serious respect and go easy on the amounts as these are HOT.
6. Carolina Reaper, Pepper X, and the Dragon’s Breath are 800,000 to 3,500,000 = Okay, get those away from me.

It seems like just setting these last ones NEXT to a pot can scare a dish into spicy land. Physical burns and hospital visits are common with these peppers. Do not eat them raw.

Allyl Isothiocyanate – The Other Compound

Now, onto our second and less well known oganosulfur compound Allyl Isothiocyanate. This is the active ingredient in Wasabi, Horseradish, and Mustards. These plants in millennia past figured out that herbivores would not readily eat them if they tasted bad. They developed their own version of chemical warfare to save themselves.

Allyl Isothiocyanate is a harmless compound during the life of the plant, amazingly. Chewing the plant changes everything. This rending and tearing mixes up the compounds and attacks us with a pungent flavor. We as flavor loving humans tend to actually hunt out these foods at times.

Grown adults are reduced to whimpering children when faced with a big glob of tasty Wasabi or my Irish mustard.

Whichever heat you prefer, whether a little or a lot, the science of these compounds helps make our food a lot more interesting and memorable. So, taste more of them and cry away!