The science of hot sauce

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academics 1:31 The science of hot sauce

By:

Lee Friesland

6 Feb 2023 924

What brings the heat in this popular condiment? Professor Sean O'Keefe in the Department of Food Science & Technology gives us the facts.

Hot sauce is made from hot peppers. And there's five species of hot peppers that are used for the heat sensation that you can get it. And people will consume these and have consumed them for thousands of years. "How hot is this ?" People like it because, it provides a physiological response. There is that pain and it's because the capsaicen binds to what would otherwise be the heat receptors in your mouth and provides that, that sensation. "I think it's definitely hotter than the last one." Some people like that sensation. You know, different peppers. Some of them have really high levels of these capsaicins, and people look for them. I mean, they have names like scorpion, we have ghost peppers. Some grow like Carolina Reaper, which is what we call over 2 million Scoville Heat Units. And that is a sensory test that is done using people as sensors. And you would actually tastes dilutions of the product. And a 2 million means it can be diluted 2 million times, and still be detected as a sensation by people that taste it. But the one that we typically can buy here that's the hottest is the habanero pepper, the orange habanero. I personally like the ones that are fruity and hot. If I don't get hiccups from a hot sauce, it's not hot enough.

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