Why does chili pepper burn the mouth?
Chili peppers don’t burn your mouth. They simply cause a burning sensation, which can be quite painful.
We’ve all experienced that burning sensation in our mouth after biting into a chili pepper. But don’t worry, it’s not a real burn. It’s simply a hot feeling that can be soothed with a glass of milk.
Chili peppers are found in varying amounts in different recipes around the world. They’re in Indian curry, Mexican chili con carne, and North African harissa, for example. In fact, chili peppers are now the most consumed spice on the planet. Some people really enjoy the burning sensation they produce when eaten. Others, not so much. In any case, let’s focus on the idea of a sensation. Indeed, eating chili peppers doesn’t produce the characteristics of a burn in the mouth: blisters, redness, swelling, etc.
First, let’s remember that our tongue is covered with what scientists call taste buds. Each of these buds contains taste buds made up of dozens of sensory cells connected to our brain. Some have receptors for sweet or salty tastes. Others have receptors linked to sensations of hot or cold.
The presence of capsaicin in chili peppers likely indicates a defense mechanism of the plant. Mammals, which are sensitive to it, would thus be deterred from ingesting the capsaicin-rich seeds. Once through a mammal’s digestive system, a chili pepper seed loses its ability to germinate. Birds, on the other hand, which are not sensitive to capsaicin, do not damage the seeds by ingesting them and thus help to disperse them.
