Chili pepper

Chill Powder. Chili powder is a commercial blend of several spices, ie, chili peppers, oregano, cumin seed, onion and gadic powders, aUspice, perhaps cloves, and others. Chili powder is the basic flavor for many highly spiced dishes, among them chili con came, and is used in cocktail sauces and ground meats. 

You can t remove the "hot" taste of chili peppers by drinking water because the compound responsible is nonpolar and water-insoluble. 

Capsaicin is what makes chili peppers hot. It is an irritant, for mammals, but not for birds. This may be because birds spread the seeds better than mammals. It causes a burning sensation in any mammalian tissue with which it comes in contact. 

The primary counterirritant in group D is capsaicin, a natural substance found in red chili peppers and responsible for the hot, spicy characteristic when used in foods.32,33,48 Capsaicin stimulates the release of substance P from local sensory nerve fibers, depleting substance P stores over time. A period of reduced sensitivity to painful stimuli follows, and transmission of pain impulses to the central nervous system is reduced.42... 

Why won t water relieve the burning sensation of chili peppers See p. 83. 

Question 7.2 Why Won t Water Relieve the Burning Sensation of Chili Peppers 83... 

Don t reach for that glass of water to cool the effect of spicy chili peppers A few rules of chemistry will suggest a better remedy. 

The pungent components of chili peppers belong to a class of substances known as capsaicinoids. The most pungent and most common substance in this family is capsaicin (Fig. 7.2.1) (N-[4-hydroxy-3-methoxyphenyl)methyl]-8-methyl-6-nonenamide). Other members of this family include dihydrocapsaicin (Fig. 7.2.2), nodihydrocapsaicin (dihydrocapsaicin with a (CH2)s linkage instead of (CH2)6),... 

In most odour studies researchers try to control the diet of their odour donors. In particular, consumption of garlic, onion, chilies, pepper, vinegar, blue cheese,... 

Chili peppers, 23 163, 164 Chili powder, 23 164 adulterated, 23 163 Chilled castings, tellurium in, 24 424 Chilled surface drying, in bar soap manufacture, 22 750-751 Chill proofing enzymes, 10 294 Chilton-Colburn analogy, 1 47 Chimeric embryos, 12 458... 

Chili pepper (Capsicum frutescens). Reprinted from Culbreth DMR. (1927). Materia Medica and Pharmacognosy, 7th ed. Philadelphia Lea Febiger. 

Neurokinin Analgesics Chili Peppers History and Botany... 

It is interesting to note that most of our modern uses of chili peppers are preceded by ancient Mesoamericans. Capsaicin, the active chemical constituent, is used today as an irritant in self-defense sprays, and dried chilis were burned by the Inca to blind the invading Spaniards. Just as we apply capsaicin for analgesia, native Americans used to rub chili on the gums to relieve the pain of a toothache. Eunuchs serving Chinese Emperors were castrated after hot pepper extracts were chronically applied to their scrotums. 

Capsaicin was extracted and named by Thomas Thresh in 1846, and its chemical structure was determined in 1919. The Scoville Unit was also developed in 1912 as a measurement of the hotness of chili peppers (Scoville 1912). A pepper with 1000 Scoville Units means that an alcoholic extract must be diluted 1 1000 before it ceases to be hot. The Mexican habanero pepper has an astonishing 350,000 Scoville Units. 

The predominant adverse effect of clinical use of capsaicin is the burning sensation it produces. Many find it intolerable, and withdrawal rates from clinical studies have been reported as 30% or higher (Szallasi and Blumberg 1999). Excessive ingestion of chili peppers can cause visceral pain, increased peristalsis and diarrhea (Gruenwald 1998). Excessive external application can cause blister and ulcer formation. Very high doses can cause a serious hypothermia. 

This family is characterized by producing substances that have dramatic effects on humans and animals the toxins in deadly nightshade, mandrake, and datura the nicotine in tobacco plants and the burning capsaicin in chili peppers. But it also contains cool, juicy sweet tomatoes and bell peppers eggplants, with their rich, creamy flesh and the ultimate in comfort food—the potato. 

Perry L, Dickau R, Zarillo S, Holst 1, PearsaU DM, Pipemo DR, Berman Ml, Cooke RG, Rademaker K, Ranere Al, Ramond IS, Sandweiss DJ, ScarameUi E, Tarble K, Zeidler JA (2007) Starch fossils and the domestication and dispersal of chili peppers Capsicum spp. L.) in the Americas. Science 315 986-988... 

Hall R, Holden M, Yeoman M (1987) The accumulation of phenylpropanoid and capsaicinoid compounds in cell cultures and whole fruit of the chili pepper, Capsicum frutescens MiU. Plant Cell Tissue Organ Cult 8 163-176... 

Thiele R, Mueller-Seitz E, Petz M (2008) Chili pepper fruits presumed precursors of fatty acids characteristic for capsaicinoids. J Agric Food Chem 56 4219 224 Fujiwake H, Suzuki T, Oka S, Iwai K (1980) Enzymatic formation of capsaicinoid from vanU-lylamine and iso-type fatty acids by ceU-free extracts of Capsicum annuum var. annuum cv. Karayatsubusa. Agric Biol Chem 44 2907-2912... 

Capsaicin (52 Qutenza , NeurogesX, 2009), an active component of chili peppers belonging to genus Capsicum, was first isolated in pure and crystalline form by John Clough Thresh in 1876." Capsaicin is currently used in topical ointments to reheve the pain of peripheral neuropathy the burning and painful sensations associated with capsaicin (capsaicin does not actually cause a chemical bum, or any direct tissue damage at all) result from its chemical interaction with sensory neurons. Capsaicin, being a member of the vanilloid family, binds to the ion channel receptor vanilloid... 

Rozin, P. and Schiller, D. (1980). The nature and acquisition of a preference for chili pepper by humans. Motivation and Emotion 4,77-100. 

Investigations on capsaicin (66), the vanillyl-group containing hot principle in chili peppers Capsicum spp.), as well as the irritant compound... 

It has been known for many years that autonomic effector tissues (eg, gut, airways, bladder) contain nerve fibers that do not show the histochemical characteristics of either cholinergic or adrenergic fibers. Both motor and sensory NANC fibers are present. Although peptides are the most common transmitter substances found in these nerve endings, other substances, eg, nitric oxide synthase and purines, are also present in many nerve terminals (Table 6-1). Capsaicin, a neurotoxin derived from chili peppers, can cause the release of transmitter (especially substance P) from such neurons and, if given in high doses, destruction of the neuron. 

In addition to mating-disruption pheromones, there are a number of naturally occurring, nonpheromonal attractants and repellents. Many are typically used as food additives or in cosmetics or perfumes, and are derived from diverse plant and animal sources. Capsaicin [44], the spicy component of chili peppers, is used in several bird, deer, and rodent repellents. Maple lactone [45], a common food additive and flavoring, is used in traps to attract cockroaches with its stale beer odor. Methyl... 

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