The story of chili

 

After eating chili have ever got a burning feeling?

This is about reason for the hotness of chili pepper for those who love spicy foods. More than 6000 years ago chili cultivation was started in Mexico in American continent and also could be seen in countries like Peru, Bolivia in a large extend. Through the American exploratory people chili was introduced to Europe and the through the Portuguese traders it came to Asia. There are more than 400 chili varieties in all over the world. But there are 5 species which are commonly used. They can be named as Capsicum chinese, Capsicum frutescence, Capsicum baccatum, Capsicum annum and Capsicum pubescence.  Capsicum chinese can be found as the most pungent species. Chili varieties such as bell pepper are not pungent. Reason behind the pungency of chili is chemical compounds produce in chili called capsaicinoid compounds. Capsaicin is the main compound responsible for the pungency of chili which represents 69% of capsaicinoids. Other than that dihydrocapsaicin (22%), nordihydrocapsaicin (7%), homocapsaicin (1%), and homodihydrocapsaicin (1%) are also contributed. Capsaicin content in chili depends on the variety and growing conditions. It is produced as a repellent for mammalian predators, microorganisms and fungus to protect the plant from them. But birds are not sensitive for capsaicin. They can eat chili without any burning sensation. Therefore birds are the spreaders of chili. Capsaicin is highly produced in white colour placentas which seeds are attached to and white colour inner wall membrane of the pods. In modern technology, pungency can be quantitatively measured by using High Performance Liquid Chromatography (HPLC) method. Chili pungency is measured in a standard way of Scoville sacle. It gives quantity of chili heat in Scoville Heat Units (SHU). According to capsaicin contents, different chili varieties can be found ranging from zero to millions of Scoville heat units all over the world.

When capsaicin in foods reached to pain receptors in mouth, nose or skin, it gives the message to brain about burning sensation. That is how we feel chili heat. These pain receptors are activated in the presence of heat too. Therefore capsaicin is identified as an offensive substance by the brain and take the defense actions as same as body exposes to heat. That is the reason for body begins to sweat, tears are coming, face getting red in colour and stomach feels like burning after eating high amount of chili. Same time capsaicin can affect to the mucus membrane causing to secrete extra amount of mucus from the nose as a defense mechanism to remove out the unwanted substance.  

Although high amount of chili heat gives a painful burning experience, some people love to enjoy spicy foods. According to the scientists, the reason for that extreme feeling is due to the effect of capsaicin activates the areas of brain related to pleasure and pain simultaneously. This spice induced pain can lead to a pleasure after initial burning sensation. The most relief for the burning sensation due to capsaicin is cold milk. Casein in milk has a detergent effect on capsaicin. Therefore burning sensation is easily fade away.  If chili is consumed at an optimum level, it will give so many health benefits without any difficulty such as,

-          Boost metabolism in body and reduce the appetite which leads to reduce body weight

-          Reduce fat burning and fat deposition in blood vessels that will help to control heart attacks.

-          Boost immunity of the body

-          Helps to food digestion by stimulating gastric enzyme secretion

-           Helps to break up congested mucus and get remove it. It will gives some relief from flu symptoms due to mucus starts to leave the body

-          Anti-inflammatory agent which gives relieve allergies

-          Improve digestion and maintain optimal oral health by stimulating production of saliva

-           Helps to get relief from joint pain

-          Excellent food preserver and prevent food contamination from bacteria due to its antimicrobial and antifungal properties, therefore helps to control food allergies

There is a trend in food industry and pharmaceutical industry to extract of capsaicin from chili pepper and incorporate into their products because of the amazing health benefits and food preserving characteristics of capsaicin/chili.

Do you use chili in cooking to get a spicy hot and to get a pleasant color? Surely you may use chili powder bought from the market for your easiness. Are you sure about the 100% quality of that chili powder?

Many people use chili powder in their cuisines to get spicy taste and pleasant colour for the food. Mainly for the purpose of increasing self-life, ripened chili pepper is dried and made into powder. It helps to preserve chili for a long time without spoilage. China is the largest green chili producer (34.5 million tons) while India gives the largest dried chili production with 36% of the world total. Although chili powder can be easily prepared at home in a clean manner, most of people tend to buy it from the market. But these days, there is a risk of adulteration of chili powder using different types of materials such as brick powder, salt powder or talc powder, starch, artificial colorants with flour and redox powder etc. Original chili powder doesn’t dissolve in water.  So, how can we identify low quality chili powder? It’s easy. There are simple test that can be easily performed at home.

01.   Test for brick powder

Add about one teaspoon of chili powder to a glass of plain water; if it gives a reddish brown color it indicates the sample contains brick powder. Rub some chili powder on a glass. If it feels some kind of grittiness and glass like pieces present in the bottom of glass, indicates the presence of brick powder.

02.   Test for artificial colorings

Add about one teaspoon of chili powder to a glass of plain water; if it becomes red  colour, it indicates the sample is adulterated with artificial colors like Sudan dye. These dyes are also known carcinogens and banned to use in foods. Presence of Sudan I or lead oxide like chemicals in spice ingredients is considered a reasonably foreseeable hazard.

03.   Test for starch

Add few drops of Iodine solution to the powdered spice. If a bluish colour change can be noticed, it shows the presence of starch.

 

These adulterants can give bad side effects to our body. Specially, there is a high risk to have casinogenic compounds present in artificial colorants which are used as adulterants. Therefore, it is better to prepare chili powder by dried chili by yourself for your consumption It is very easy to grind dried red chili in a mill or at home and store for late use as well.  Flavor of homemade spices are really fresher and much safer to consume.

In case of buying dried chili, it is better to check them well before buying as they may contain fungus in it. Outside appearance of chili pods may be good but fungus may be inside of pods. When you can break some chili pods from the middle, if it shows a smoke comes out, it indicates it is contaminated with fungus. Some chemicals produced by fungus like Aflatoxin can be carcinogenic from body. Therefore, you should be careful when you buy dried chili from the market. If chili powder is bought from market, quality of dried chili used to produce it cannot be ensured.  It is better consume green chili instead of dried chili or chili powder may give many health benefits as green and red chili contain lots of nutritional compounds including vitamins, antioxidants, beta carotene and minerals than dried chili.

Reason for chili hot - video clip

Simple tests to detect chili powder quality - video clip