Just how hot is that pepper? New chili-shaped portable device could tell you
Now a team of scientists from Prince of Songkla University in Thailand has developed a simple, portable sensor device that can connect to a smartphone to show how much capsaicin is contained in a given chili pepper sample, according to a new paper in the journal ACS Applied Nano Materials. These days there is also a plethora of so-called "super-hots" with heat ratings above 1 million SHU, such as the ghost pepper (Bhut jolokia) at 1.58 million SHU and the Naga Viper at 1.4 million SHU.
A 2015 study used fluorescence microscopy to determine that super-hot varieties typically store as much capsaicin in the skin as in the pith, unlike conventional chili peppers, where capsaicin is stored primarily in the pith. So while experienced cooks know that removing the pith and seeds while preparing peppers also removes much of their intrinsic heat, that won't work for super-hot varieties.
