1. What makes chili peppers and capsicum oleoresins hot?
Chili peppers, including the most popular varieties, such as Ancho, Anaheim, Cayenne, Scotch Bonnet/Habanero, Tabasco, and Jalapeno, all share a common element. They all rely on a group of chemical compounds known as capsaicinoids for the characteristic pungency or "bite" which they contribute to food and beverage. The three Major Capsaicinoids (capsaicin, dihydrocapsaicin, and nordihydrocapsaicin) are responsible for about 98% of the pungency. The other minor contributors include homocapsaicin and homodihydrocapsaicin.

2. How is the pungency of capsicum best measured?
When the intended use of the capsicum extract is as a flavoring in food, we believe that the Scoville Method most accurately measures how an extract will "perform" in a food application. A true Scoville Measurement relies on a highly trained group of panelists to determine the dilution at which the extract produces a "threshold bite." For example, if a 1:1,000,000 dilution produces the threshold bite, then the extract is said to have a pungency of 1,000,000 Scoville Heat Units (SHU).

3. Are there other methods of measuring the pungency of capsicum extracts?
There are numerous methods in use. Most rely on a conversion factor to predict a "theoretical" Scoville Pungency from a quantitative instrumental measurement of two or three of the Major Capsaicinoids. We believe that instrumental measurements are most appropriate when capsicum extracts are used in non-food applications. For these non-food applications, we suggest the HPLC-MC method which measures the content of all three major capsaicinoids using High Performance Liquid Chromatography.