RE: Re: [CH] Swift Tiger sauce/Acid v. Sugar Effects/Casein Effects/Dr. Frankenfurter
Art Pierce (pierces@cruzio.com)
Wed, 18 Nov 1998 14:45:30 -0800
Date: Mon, 16 Nov 1998 22:35:46 -0000
> From: "Pieters, Rob (NL01)" <Rob.Pieters@Netherlands.honeywell.com>
> Jim Wrote;
> > Acids (vinegar, citrus, etc) increase the effects of capsaicin.
> >Sugar
> > (carrots, sucrose, fruit, etc) mollify it's effects. Sweet/hot is
> > caused by the sugars (Glucose, Fructose, or Sucrose) masking the cap
> > until they're gone.
> >
> Looking to acids which increase the effects of caps., perhaps you know
> if
> this is also true for lactic acid?
Up to some individually varying maximum.
> I ask this because in the Indian kitchen they use lots of yogurt to
> neutralize the heat.
> So this could be in contradiction with the above effect.
> But maybe this is because of other elements in the yogurt; I like
curies a
> lot and noticed that if I cook in yogurt I can use triple the amount
of
> peppers where I normally would find that one batch would be crying
hot.
Rob
~~~
In short,
up to some individually varying maximum,
sour increases, sweet delays.
~~~
Casein, the protein in milk, ice cream and yogurt,
purportedly breaks the bond
between capsaicin
and its receptor chemical, VR1.
So, in effect, your yogurt lifts
capsaicin off your taste buds.
The rest of the yogurt/food in your curry
may somewhat mask the VR1 site.
Also, if you have other chemicals in your food
that have identical organic ring structures
to that part of the capsaicin(oids)'s structure,
those other chemicals may attach instead to VR1
(and not allow the caps.
to do their "special work.")
Vanilla has that ring structure.
[VR1 is Vanilla Receptor 1.]
So, you might try
a Tablespoon
(or more, if you can abide that flavor)
of vanilla extract
in your next batch of curry
and maybe you'll be able to quadruple
your chile quantity, for the chiles' flavor,
without breaking
your own personal heat barrier.
~~~
Chocolate Lover or Broccoli Hater?
The Answer's on the Tip of your Tongue
Genes affect taste buds, and what tickles them.
By Sandra Blakeslee
The New York Times, Tuesday February 18th 1997
Starts with:
"Infants enter this world equipped with a genetically determined number
of taste buds embedded into the tips of their tiny tongues. Some have a
few hundred or so buds while others are endowed with tens of thousands
of receptors for [the 4 main tastes] sweet, sour, salty or bitter
foods."
More at.
http://www.riedelcrystal.co.at/page24.htm
As you know,
caps. quantity testing by HPLC is now use,
since Scoville Heat Units (SHU) or Scoville Units (SU)
are a subjective dilution factor "measurement"
developed around the turn of this century
(Dr. Frankenfurter, are you there).
They are VERY subjective.
The number of tastebuds
that will get temporarily
pained to where they're
desensitized
to salt and bitter,
by the caps. in chiles,
[but you'll still be able
to sense a little sweet and sour
(unlike black pepper - piperidine? -
-no endorphin rush, so not addictive like chiles -
which, in excess, knocks out all 4 main tastes,
but, for me, less painfully so)]
varies a LOT from person to person.
Another longer, 'interesting' webpage on taste buds:
A Taste Illusion: Taste Sensation Localized by Touch
Linda M. Bartoshuk Yale University School of Medicine, Department of
Surgery
Says within:
"WHAT MAKES SUPERTASTERS DIFFERENT FROM MEDIUM AND NON-TASTERS?
Miller and Reedy have introduced a new perspective. They utilized
methylene blue to stain the taste buds so that they could be counted.
They found that 'tasters' had more taste buds than 'nontasters'. In
addition, they found that subjects with more taste buds perceived
stronger tastes.
Since there are pain fibres associated with taste buds, supertasters are
unusually responsive to the oral burn of spices.<<<<<<<<<<<<<
A recent extension of this work showed that supertasters have the
largest number of taste buds, nontasters the smallest. The differences
in number of receptors are very large. For example, the average number
of taste buds per square centimeter was 96, 184 and 425 for nontasters,
medium tasters and supertasters, respectively. The supertasters'
fungiform papillae were smaller and had rings of tissue around them that
were not seen on the fungiform papillae of nontasters. These anatomical
differences may prove to be a better indicator of genetic [taste
ability] status than the [subjectively reported] taste differences."
More at:
http://www.riedelcrystal.co.at/page22.htm
So, Mr. Pieters, Rob (NL01), if you have 425+ "anatomically smaller,
ringed fungiform papillae" taste buds/sq.cm., you probably "better
enjoy" a Red Savina in a way that a person who has ~184 "anatomically
bigger, un-ringed fungiform papillae" taste buds/sq.cm. can never hope
to. [And make your own decision on how "bigger" and "better enjoy" may,
or may not, be related, in this particular instance.]
~~~
Apologies to all for the length of the above.
Art