British scientists have recently developed a new technology to determine the content of capsaicin in chili peppers (that is, pepper pungency) and applied for a patent, which is expected to soon be applied in the food industry.
According to the report of the “Alpha Galileo†scientific website sponsored by the British Association for the Advancement of Science on the 6th, the principle of Oxford’s new technology is that capsaicin is adsorbed onto multi-walled carbon nanotube electrodes when capsaicin is oxidized through electrochemical reactions. At that time, the researchers could measure the change in current and turn the reading into a Scoville unit that shows capsaicin content.
The researchers said that this new technology can accurately determine the content of capsaicin, not only low cost, but also reliable. Using this method, the pepperiness of pepper products can be quickly detected on the production line.