Practical 5

Assessment

1) Produce a table summarising the Scoville ratings of the five sauces tested by the class. Do these
values agree with the claimed strengths of these sauces? (20% of the marks)

Type of chilli sauces and extracts Scoville ratings (SHU)

Tomato sauce (Placebo) 0
Doomsday 1.5m
Caroline reaper 1.5m
Grim reaper affliction 9m
PJ 70% Trinidad scorpion 1.2m
Table 1: Scoville ratings for each type of chilli sauces and extracts. The unit SHU stands for
Scoville Heat Units. This value is given where the solution is diluted for certain times and still
have the majority of volunteers able to detect the spicy sensation.

Yes. According to the class data, most people can detect spiciness at a very low threshold which is at
1:1000000 for the spiciest chilli sauce, Grim reaper affliction. Their ability to detect spiciness at the lowest
dilution will decrease accordingly as the Scoville ratings for the chilli sauces decreases. Although there is
one person who could not detect any spiciness at any level for PJ 70% Trinidad scorpion, most data
agree with the claimed strengths of the sauces.

2) Briefly summarise the mechanisms by which animals detect noxious temperatures. How do plants
exploit these mechanisms for defence? (300 words maximum, you can also include a figure, but
its legend is included in the word count; 30% of the marks)

Phenotypic plasticity theory states that when animals adapt to different strategies when face with changes
in environments or physiological changes (Dingemanse et al., 2010). Animals are left vulnerable to
predators when it is exposed to extreme temperatures because their muscle contraction, speed and
strength are temperature dependant. (Cossins, 2011). To help them survive in harsh environments,
animals have evolved defence mechanism to protect themselves from harmful stresses such as reactive
oxygen species, unfolded protein and toxic chemicals (Zhou et al., 2019).

In mammals, nociceptors also known as pain receptor sends signal to spinal cord and brain when it is
activated by noxious chemical, mechanical or temperatures (Asbury, 1989). The Transient Receptor
Potential (TRP) protein often found on nociceptors plays a critical role in sensory physiology. High
temperature is found to be activating Transient Receptor Potential Vanilloid 1 (TRPV1). Interestingly,
TRPV1 is activated as well when it is exposed to capsaicin, an active ingredient found in hot chilli peppers
(Michael et al., 1997).This will lead to excitation of the neuron and consequent perception of pain
(Michael et al., 1997).

To avoid being eaten by animals, plants started to exploit this mechanism for defence by producing
capsaicin. Capsaicin when consumed by animals activates TRPV1 consequently gives burning sensation
by eliciting perception of pain.

3) What are the main problems with the design of this study? How would you improve it? (300 words
maximum; 40% of the marks)

Some problems that should be addressed with human volunteers were involved in this study is how
tolerance to spicy foods vary from one person to another person. The same chilli peppers can be used
and it will be perceived differently by a group of volunteers due to the number of TRPV1 found in the
mouth (Guzmán and Bosland, 2017). Even by taking an average score between volunteers may reduce
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the imprecision but this would not eliminate the possibility of having inaccurate perception of spiciness
entirely.

Another problem is when there is no time lapse allowed between the test of one dilution to a stronger
dilution. A person can develop desensitisation after tasting a few samples within a short time of period
which leads to inaccuracy of data because they could not detect the spiciness when they should have
been able to (Handbook of herbs and spices, 2012).

In this study, only one person is involved per group and its data is used independently. There is no
specific procedure in order to determine the Scoville test. Scoville test is usually carried out with a panel
of 5 members where three out of five members have to be able to detect the spiciness before proceeding
to the next step to evaluate Scoville test. Next, the problem of desensitisation can be reduced with
30-minute interval between tests. This will give time for the receptors to be able to work properly again.

4) Your friend has tricked you into eating a phaal curry and your mouth is now on fire. What should you
do to relieve the pain? (10% of the marks)
A quick and easy way to relieve the pain is by drinking a glass of milk. A study has showed that milk is the
best palate cleanser after having spicy foods (Thanh Truc, 2014). From the same study, water, bread and
10% sucrose can be used to relieve the spiciness as well, but it is not as good as milk. Comparison of the
findings with those of other studies confirms that milk is indeed the best palate cleanser to relieve the pain
elicited by the spicy foods (Hutchinson et al., 1990; Lee and Kim, 2013; Nasrawi and Pangborn, 1990).

References:

(2012). Handbook of herbs and spices. Volume 1 (2nd ed. ed.). Cambridge, UK: Woodhead Pub.
Asbury, A. K. (1989). 'Pain. By Howard L. Fields, MD, PhD New York, McGraw‐Hill, 1987', Annals of
Neurology, 25(1), pp. 108-108.
Cossins, A. R. (2011). Thermal adaptation: A theoretical and empirical synthesis, Michael J. Angilletta Jr.
Oxford University Press, Oxford, pp. 289. ISBN: 978-0-19-857087-5. Elsevier Ltd.
Dingemanse, N. J., Kazem, A. J. N., Réale, D. & Wright, J. (2010). 'Behavioural reaction norms: animal
personality meets individual plasticity', Trends in Ecology & Evolution, 25(2), pp. 81-89.
Guzmán, I. & Bosland, P. W. (2017). 'Sensory properties of chile pepper heat – and its importance to
food quality and cultural preference', Appetite, 117, pp. 186-190.
Hutchinson, S. U. S. A. N. E., Trantow, L. E. S. L. I. E. A. & Vickers, Z. A. T. A. M. (1990). 'The Effectiveness
of Common Foods for Reduction of Capsaicin Burn 1', Journal of sensory studies, 4(3), pp.
157-164.
Lee, K.-W. & Kim, K.-O. (2013). 'Effects of fat and sucrose in palate cleansers on discrimination of
burning sensation of capsaicin samples', Food Science and Biotechnology, 22(3), pp. 691-696.
Michael, J. C., Mark, A. S., Makoto, T., Tobias, A. R., Jon, D. L. & David, J. (1997). 'The capsaicin receptor:
a heat-activated ion channel in the pain pathway', Nature, 389(6653), p. 816.
Nasrawi, C. W. & Pangborn, R. M. (1990). 'Temporal effectiveness of mouth-rinsing on capsaicin
mouth-burn', Physiology & Behavior, 47(4), pp. 617-623.
Thanh Truc, N. (2014). 'Determination of suitable palate cleanser for spicy tom yum soup', Agro Food
Industry Hi-Tech, 25(3), pp. 28-30.
Zhou, L., He, B., Deng, J., Pang, S. & Tang, H. (2019). 'Histone acetylation promotes long-lasting defense
responses and longevity following early life heat stress', PLoS genetics, 15(4), p. e1008122.
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