We will be looking at capsaicin chemistry in the article that follows, but don’t worry. We will keep it fast and simple so it doesn’t get boring for you. You should understand the basics, but you do not need to know everything that a molecular chemist knows about capsaicin.
Understanding Capsaicin
When you eat a pepper, such as a habanero or jalapeño, you feel a bit of heat from it on your tongue and in your mouth. If you like spicy food, this can be a welcome taste, especially once the heat starts to leave and the “runner’s high” starts to set in for you. Most the heat that comes from the peppers is from capsaicin.
Capsaicin has a low volatility, and it is odorless. However, even though it might not have any odor, it is easy to detect the presence of capsaicin when you are eating a pepper and spicy food that has used peppers. Even when there are only 10 parts capsaicin per million, you will find that it causes a burning sensation on the tongue and in the mouth. Why is it so powerful and potent? It has a long hydrocarbon tail, which means it will bond with the lipoprotein receptor quickly and strongly. That is why you have that burning sensation and why it can be so difficult for it to dissipate.
While the tongue is where people tend to feel the heat with most of the peppers, capsaicin chemistry can differ slightly in some. This is why some of the spicy food that you experience will burn not only the tongue, but also the throat and the mouth, for example.
You might be wondering why it causes a burning pain. That is because there are calcium ions that enter the cell through the cell membrane. This causes the pain signal in the brain to activate and to transmit to other cells in the area. It is the same thing that happens when faced with actual heat rather than the heat from the capsaicin chemistry.
Getting Rid of the Pain and Heat
Understanding the capsaicin chemistry can help you to deal with the pain, too. Since it has a long tail, it will not bond well with water. When you drink water, you are not doing anything to deal with the pain. You are just hydrating yourself. The best and fastest way to deal with the heat is by drinking a glass of milk. Mammal milk contains casein, which will wash away the capsaicin molecules and provide you with the relief you need. The “traditional” method of using a beer to deal with the heat does not work. There is simply not enough alcohol in it to work. Essentially, beer will act like water. Milk is the way to go.
Capsaicin Can Be Dangerous
When it is in high concentrations, capsaicin can be dangerous, as you can imagine. In fact, it can be so dangerous that is has been used as weapons in the past by the Mayans. In addition, capsaicin is the active ingredient found in pepper spray today. A little bit of capsaicin goes a long way.