• Question: Why are chillis hot? (the food)

    Asked by ballethawi to Amy, Karen, Sarah, Vijay, Will on 18 Jun 2012. This question was also asked by meg123.
    • Photo: Amy Birch

      Amy Birch answered on 18 Jun 2012:

      Chillis have a chemical in them called capsaicin, which activates receptors in your mouth and tongue that sense pain, specifically pain from heat. This sends a message to our brain to tell us we are eating something hot!

    • Photo: Will Reynolds

      Will Reynolds answered on 18 Jun 2012:

      Hi ballethawi. Capsaicin was originally evolved by the plants as a defence mechanism to stop animals from eating them. Like Amy says the sensation of them being ‘hot’ is actually pain and once an animal realises that eating chillis hurts, they won’t do it again. Although for some reason humans have grown to like this pain and put it in our food!

    • Photo: Sarah Martin

      Sarah Martin answered on 18 Jun 2012:

      Hiya ballethawi!
      The capsaicin defence mechanism really backfired on chilli plants, particularly in India and in South America!
      I still find it strange to think that spiciness is actually pain, but when a curry brings me to tears, I remember why they’re linked!
      🙂 Sarah

Comments

  • Photo: balletbecca

    balletbecca commented on :

    Heeya hawi xx lol!
    just saying to reduce the spice on your tongue eat bread, if you drink water then you will end up making it worse because we have little things on our tongues and chilis make them rise but if you add water to them rise they will rise to an extreme lengh and it will end up being really painful (i heard that dunno if it is true)