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
Why spiciness creates a burning sensation is actually because it is your taste buds dying. Don’t worry, they grow back after about two weeks. That is, however, the reason why if you continuously eat spicy food you don’t really feel how spicy it is. However, if you stop for a while to let your tongue recover and then go back to it it will feel spicier than it did before.
*[edit] take the above paragraph with a pinch of salt as what I learned may have been erroneous, and I apologize for perpetuating information that may not have been wholly correct. I thank those who have corrected me below except those who obviously cannot keep a civil tone, you know who you are.*
Why some peppers are hotter than others is because of how high capsaicin content it has. That is the active chemical that is responsible for making peppers feel hot. The higher the level the spicier the food and the higher it rates on the Scoville grade for spicy food. However, other spicy compounds do exist, such as allyl isothiocyanate which is found in mustard, horse radish or wasabi. They have a very different kind of heat, one that hits you like a punch and then goes away rather quickly, as opposed to peppers which can linger for a long time.
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