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Dro
Joined: 10 Jul 2006
Posts: 3763
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 Posted: Thu Sep 06, 2007 4:57 am Post subject: |
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Capsaicin binds to the sensory neurons that sense heat. The neurons fire, and the brain registers it as burning.
Interestingly, capsaicin will cause blistering. Blistering is a pre-programmed response to a burn that the body sets in motion. I'm a little surprised that a neural stimulus will activate the local blister response, but it looks like it does:
http://www.fiery-foods.com/dave/capsaicin.asp
| Quote: | | Pure capsaicin is so powerful that chemists who handle the crystalline powder must work in a filtered "tox room" in full body protection. The suit has a closed hood to prevent inhaling the powder. Said pharmaceutical chemist Lloyd Matheson of the University of Iowa, who once inhaled some capsaicin accidentally: "Its not toxic, but you wish you were dead if you inhale it." "One milligram of pure capsaicin placed on your hand would feel like a red-hot poker and would surely blister the skin," said capsaicin expert Marlin Bensinger. |
http://altmedicine.about.com/od/completeazindex/a/capsaicin_cream.htm
| Quote: | | Other side effects are coughing and skin redness. Higher doses can cause pain, inflammation, and skin blisters. |
These aren't totally trustworthy, but it seems true.
I wonder if menthol can cause goose bumps, since it binds to the cold sensing neurons? |
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Thy Brilliance
Joined: 09 Jul 2006
Posts: 3090
Location: Relative
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| Posted: Thu Sep 06, 2007 5:05 am Post subject: |
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| Sam wrote: | | MsFrisby wrote: | | One guy's experience particularly sticks in my mind as he ended up, hands on knees, bent over and drooling pints of saliva onto the concrete just outside the classroom door. |
That shit is the absolute best.
You're all balls and forebrain and you're telling yourself i can take this i can take anythifffFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFUCKKKK |
I think I'm actually stupid enough to do it.. |
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Darqcyde
Joined: 11 Jul 2006
Posts: 8366
Location: A false vacuum abiding in ignorance.
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| Posted: Thu Sep 06, 2007 5:08 am Post subject: |
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| Sam wrote: | | As far as I understand capsaicin, it doesn't cause actual burning but creates the burning sensation by adhering to sensory neurons and causing the neurons to produce the sensation of pain. It doesn't seem to actually burn anything. |
Right, but your brain can't tell the difference, or so said the article I read years ago about this.
Dro: my question is how intense would capsaicin AND menthol at the same time be. 
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...if a single leaf holds the eye, it will be as if the remaining leaves were not there.
http://12ozlb.blogspot.com |
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Darqcyde
Joined: 11 Jul 2006
Posts: 8366
Location: A false vacuum abiding in ignorance.
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| Posted: Thu Feb 16, 2012 6:04 am Post subject: |
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http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-205_162-57378923/trinidad-moruga-scorpion-worlds-hottest-pepper/
Trinidad Moruga Scorpion, world's hottest pepper
| Quote: | (AP) ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. - There are super-hot chile varieties. And then there's the sweat-inducing, tear-generating, mouth-on-fire Trinidad Moruga Scorpion.
With a name like that, it's not surprising that months of research by the experts at New Mexico State University's Chile Pepper Institute have identified the variety as the new hottest pepper on the planet. The golf ball-sized pepper scored the highest among a handful of chile breeds reputed to be among the hottest in the world. Its mean heat topped more than 1.2 million units on the Scoville heat scale, while fruits from some individual plants reached 2 million heat units.
"You take a bite. It doesn't seem so bad, and then it builds and it builds and it builds. So it is quite nasty," Paul Bosland, a renowned pepper expert and director of the chile institute, said of the pepper's heat. Researchers were pushed by hot sauce makers, seed producers and others in the spicy foods industry to establish the average heat levels for super-hot varieties in an effort to quash unscientific claims of which peppers are actually the hottest. That's something that hadn't been done before, Bosland said. "The question was, could the Chile Pepper Institute establish the benchmark for chile heat?" he said. "Chile heat is a complex thing, and the industry doesn't like to base it on just a single fruit that's a record holder. It's too variable." The academic institute is based at the university's agriculture school and is partially funded by federal grants, as well as some industry groups depending on the project.
The team planted about 125 plants of each variety the Trinidad Moruga Scorpion, the Trinidad Scorpion, the 7-pot, the Chocolate 7-pot and the Bhut Jolokia, which was a previous record-holder identified by the institute and certified by Guinness World Records in 2007. Randomly selected mature fruits from several plants within each variety were harvested, dried and ground to powder. The compounds that produce heat sensation the capsaicinoids were then extracted and examined.
During harvesting, senior research specialist Danise Coon said she and the two students who were picking the peppers went through about four pairs of latex gloves. "The capsaicin kept penetrating the latex and soaking into the skin on our hands. That has never happened to me before," she said.
Chile peppers of the same variety can vary in heat depending on environmental conditions. More stress on a plant hotter temperatures or less water, for example will result in hotter fruit. The Trinidad Moruga Scorpion's new notoriety is already making waves in the industry and among those who love their hot, spicy foods.
"As with all the previous record holders, there will be a run on seeds and plants," said Jim Duffy, a grower in San Diego who supplied the university with seeds for four of the super-hot varieties. "Like Cabbage Patch dolls right before Christmas or Beanie Babies, it's like the hot item." Not even Duffy or the researchers would dare to pop a whole Trinidad Moruga Scorpion in their mouths, but there are plenty of videos on social networking sites where heat-loving daredevils have tried.
The blood flow increases and the endorphins start flowing. Their faces turn red, the sweat starts rolling, their eyes and noses water and there's a fiery sensation that spreads across their tongues and down their throats. "People actually get a crack-like rush," Duffy said. "I know the people who will eat the hottest stuff to get this rush, but they've got to go through the pain." Pepper experts said there are a handful of people who are crazy enough to subject themselves to the pain, but the rest just want to try out these super-hot peppers on their friends or make killer hot sauce and it doesn't take a whole pepper to do that.
More bang for the buck is how Bosland describes it. He said a family could buy two of the super-hot peppers to flavor their meals for an entire week. The beauty of the peppers is they're not only the hottest in the world, but they're also some of the most flavorful peppers, Duffy said. "You can make a barbeque sauce or a hot sauce at a mild to medium level using small amounts of these peppers and it will be so darn addictive that you won't want to put your spoon down," he said. "You'll want to eat and eat and eat." |
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...if a single leaf holds the eye, it will be as if the remaining leaves were not there.
http://12ozlb.blogspot.com |
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E-boy
Joined: 10 Jul 2006
Posts: 1545
Location: Virginia (Much barfiness)
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| Posted: Sat Feb 18, 2012 5:10 pm Post subject: |
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The problem with all these new hottest peppers is that under various conditions they produce varying amounts of capsaicin. Basically, all of these peppers are quite hot, which is the absolute hottest isn't necessarily about variety. Growing conditions can and do make all the difference.
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"Life is tough, but it's tougher when you're stupid" ~ SGT John Stryker from "Sands of Iwo Jima". |
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LD!
Joined: 11 Nov 2006
Posts: 1138
Location: Just west of the Atlantic
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| Posted: Sat Feb 18, 2012 5:54 pm Post subject: |
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| You almost made me respond to 4 year old posts. With what would not be irreverent information. |
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Darqcyde
Joined: 11 Jul 2006
Posts: 8366
Location: A false vacuum abiding in ignorance.
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| Posted: Sat Feb 18, 2012 8:28 pm Post subject: |
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| LD! wrote: | | You almost made me respond to 4 year old posts. With what would not be irreverent information. |
I tried to put strikethrough text in the thread title and it didn't work. I necroed this thread under suspicion that I may have to update it a couple more time this year.
_________________
...if a single leaf holds the eye, it will be as if the remaining leaves were not there.
http://12ozlb.blogspot.com |
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Thy Brilliance
Joined: 09 Jul 2006
Posts: 3090
Location: Relative
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| Posted: Sat Feb 18, 2012 11:16 pm Post subject: |
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| Oh gosh, I'm falling in love with my 4 and a half year old self all over again. |
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Arc Tempest
Joined: 28 Jan 2007
Posts: 4447
Location: Oregon
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| Posted: Sat Feb 18, 2012 11:37 pm Post subject: |
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| Thy Brilliance wrote: | | Oh gosh, I'm falling in love with my 4 and a half year old self all over again. |
Autosexual pedophilia is wrong yo.
_________________
The older I get, the more certain I become of one thing. True and abiding cynicism is simply a form of cowardice. |
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Thy Brilliance
Joined: 09 Jul 2006
Posts: 3090
Location: Relative
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| Posted: Fri Feb 24, 2012 6:54 am Post subject: proof that my grandma was obsessed with me |
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Ah, you'd think so, right?
Having such luscious hair at that age should be a crime.
Maybe one day my face will be knitted in stone yet again. |
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DeD CHiKn
Joined: 04 Aug 2006
Posts: 9627
Location: Baltimore, Maryla*gunshot*
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| Posted: Fri Feb 24, 2012 11:42 am Post subject: |
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I once ate a bhut jolokia pepper whole. My friends and I each ate one
I ate like 5 Popsicles and a few glasses of milk and the burn kept coming. I had to puke it was so hot but I restrained because vomit on fire wouldn't have helped the situation.
And I wonder why I have digestive issues.
_________________
I have a face, with a mustache.
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