- [David] Here at the Berks Pepper Jam in Bethel, Pennsylvania.
- Smell that.
- [David] An annual festival of food, entertainment, and contests, all centered on chili peppers.
- Woo!
- [MC] We begin our contest with the long hots.
(bell ringing) Let's turn up the heat!
Eat!
- And we're off.
Zesty, with just a hint of poison.
- [MC] Round two.
We're gonna start with the red Fresno Pepper.
Eat, eat, eat, eat, eat, eat, eat, eat!
- There's gotta be some easier way to learn about molecules.
(bell ringing) - [MC] All right, all right, are we ready?
Eat!
- That was not designed for human consumption.
- [MC] Round number four, habanero peppers.
- Parts of my body I didn't know I had are on fire.
- [MC] 10 more seconds, you got this.
- I can't.
- [MC] Don't go.
Don't do it!
Oh!
(bell ringing) The orange Copenhagen pepper.
Eat!
- What am I doing?
- [MC] Eat, eat, eat, eat, eat, eat, eat, eat!
- Oh man, oh my God.
(David coughing) - [MC] Don't do it!
- I want it!
(train whistle blowing) Cheers.
- [MC] Oh!
- So I'm the first to fall.
How does a pepper's capsaicin convince my mouth it's on fire?
Not recommended.
I think I'll find the answer here at Penn State University's Department of Food Science.
- We all study food.
So you have psychologists and microbiologists and engineers.
- [David] I'm here to see John Hayes.
He knows a thing or two about the active ingredients in these.
- So when you went and tasted them, what did you experience?
- Oh man, my gut twisted, my tongue burned, my flesh burned, I cried, I got red, my nose ran.
It's like putting your tongue on the stove and leaving it there.
- That was an aversive response.
This plant has evolved a chemical called capsaicin.
And the reason it makes that is to keep animals from eating the chili pepper.
(David laughing) - Oh man.
The chili festival people never got that message.
And we're just a really stupid species.
- Exactly.
We're one of the only species that learns to like that sensation.
- [David] Ultimately, pepper plants are playing a pretty good trick on humans as well.
Capsaicin really is a key ingredient.
It has a long spindly tail attached to a ring.
- That ring end fits into a specific receptor that's expressed all over your body.
- Not just our tongue.
- Not just your tongue.
- Oh man.
- This receptor, this lock, is actually heat pain sensor.
- [David] Normally, the receptor, called TRPV1, activates when it in contact with something over 106 degrees.
(buzzer sounding) The result is a pain message to the brain.
Ouch!
Something's hot!
- It's a warning signal to tell your body danger.
- [David] And here's the tricky part.
When you eat peppers, those capsaicin keys fit into the heat pain receptors in your mouth, altering their sensitivity.
- And so what the capsaicin does is it fits into this molecular thermometer and it lowers the temperature at which it activates it.
- Like a changed thermostat, they now activate at body temperature, sending a false signal that's identical to the one your brain would receive if you ate something literally burning hot.
It lowers the temperature at which we feel burning pain.
- Yes.
- But it's not actually burning us?
- Correct.
- It's not, I'm not gonna see scar tissue.
- No.
- No matter how hot it is, it's all a fake out.
- Absolutely.
Passport
Follow Us