Ever found yourself biting into a dish so spicy it feels more like a trial by fire than a culinary experience? Those days might soon be over, thanks to new research led by Devin Peterson, a food science and technology professor at The Ohio State University. His team has discovered the potential for an "anti-spice" that could tone down your mouth's fire alarm. This breakthrough, reported on May 14 by OSU, relieves chili fans who sometimes overestimate their heat tolerance.
Studying a range of chili peppers, Peterson's squad identified three compounds that can, essentially, turn down the burn. Using chemical analysis and a trained tasting panel, they confirmed these compounds were linked to less heat. But the goal of developing this knowledge into an accessible condiment for your kitchen hasn't yet been met. According to Peterson, in a statement obtained by OSU's news article, "If you’re at home and you’ve ordered cuisine that has spice to it that’s a little too hot for some tastes, you can just sprinkle on a form of chili pepper that has got these suppressant agents in them that will dial it down."
Traditionally, chili pepper piquancy has been measured by Scoville Heat Units, focusing on capsaicin and dihydrocapsaicin. Peterson's research went further. They normalized different chili cultivars to the same Scoville rating, then had panelists compare their heat levels. The results were clear: factors other than capsaicinoids were at play. Following up with high-res mass spectrometry and nuclear magnetic resonance, they narrowed the heat-suppressing effects to three compounds: capsianoside I, roseoside, and gingerglycolipid A. "They're all in the same base and all normalized, so they should have had a similar heat perception, but they didn’t," Peterson told OSU.
This work doesn't just offer relief from fiery foods, but could signal a shift in pain management. Capsaicin creams and supplements exploit the body's TRPV1 receptors, which perceive heat and pain. These newly identified compounds might offer a similar relief, potentially bypassing the initial discomfort. "The newly identified heat-suppressing compounds may have the same desensitization effect – without the initial burn," Peterson said, as reported by the OSU news article.
