Why Do Chili Peppers Taste Hot? 

Source of pictures: Pixabay.com

It's hot recently. Daniel loved to drink iced beverages to relieve summer heat, which made him lose his appetite. Mom sometimes couldn't do anything with this, but only change his favorite dishes every day. After coming back from school in the afternoon, Daniel had been doing homework in his room until Mom called him out for dinner.

As soon as he came out of the room, a pungent smell greeted his nose, almost making him sneeze. He ran to the kitchen and saw Mom pouring food onto the plate from a frying pan. Browned chicken chunks and bright red chili peppers was rolled onto the plate. The spicy taste, like a key, opened his appetite door. He felt a sudden craving for rice. Mom was very happy to see this, and felt that it's worthy of trying Granny Bloom's special spicy chicken recipe.

She took the plate and went to the table. Daniel followed her and eagerly stuffed a piece of caramel-colored chicken into his mouth. "Mom, the spicy chicken is so tasty," he praised as he ate. He chewed a few mouthfuls of the chicken and gulped down some rice to relieve the spicy taste in his mouth. After a while, he began to sweat like he had run. Seeing that, mom poured a bowl of mung bean soup and passed it to him. He just finished a bowl of rice, took a gulp of soup and said happily, "It's so hot and spicy yet so tasty."

Mom handed him a piece of paper and asked him to wipe off his sweat. She said, "I added some sugar in it just in case you feel too spicy." Daniel looked at his mom who didn't feel hot after eating chili peppers and asked curiously, "Mom, why don't you find it spicy and hot?" Mom laughed and said, "People have a very different sensitivity to chili. Some people can eat very spicy food, but some can't eat it at all. This is related to heredity, living environment, and habits."

Daniel became thoughtful after a full meal. So he asked, "Mom, why do chili peppers make people feel spicy. And it's the tongue that tastes spiciness. Why do our faces sometimes get hot?”

Mother put down the chopsticks, thought for a while and said, "We can taste sweet, sour, bitter, fresh and other tastes, because our tongue has sensory receptors. For example, sweet things will bind to receptors on the tongue. So our brain knows, 'Oh, what I just ate is sweet.' The heat sensation is caused by capsaicin when we eat chili peppers. The capsaicin binds to spicy receptors and sends a message to the brain, 'Hey, I’m spicy.' But spicy receptors are rather peculiar. They not only exist on the tongue, but also on the skin and some internal organs. So sometimes your face can feel hot."

"Wow, so amazing?" Daniel couldn’t help exclaiming.

"You don’t know as you’ve never washed or cut the chili. But you can also feel hot when you touch it."

Daniel found that chilies are not only delicious, but also so magical that even our skin can feel its heat.

Author: Huang Jing