How is spiciness processed by the body? how can one pepper be so much “hotter” than another? why does the taste produce a burning sensation?

Question

How is spiciness processed by the body? how can one pepper be so much “hotter” than another? why does the taste produce a burning sensation?

In: Biology

Answer 1

Capsaicin is an irritant chemical. Plants evolved it to avoid mammals eating them. It is advantageous for plants to be eaten by birds: they fly and defecate seeds far away. If a mammal eats a plant, it pounds ground somewhere not far away. Therefore, plants evolved a chemical that irritates mammals but does not irritate birds, namely capsaicin.

Then humans came and discovered they actually enjoy the irritation.