Chili hot chemistry.In recent years, David E. and Susan K. Henderson have developed an appetite for spicy cuisines. Indeed, Susan says, "We're chili heads." Last year, this husband-wife team of Connecticut-based analytical chemists cooked up a sabbatical project to marry their culinary and professional interests. And that study of how capsaicin capsaicin /cap·sa·i·cin/ (kap-sa´i-sin) an alkaloid irritating to the skin and mucous membranes, the active ingredient of capsicum; used as a topical counterirritant and analgesic. cap·sa·i·cin n. -- the primary pungent chemical in hot chilies -- breaks down under the heat of frying has proven a recipe for surprise, Susan notes. Chief among their observations: evidence that hot chilies may contain a previously unrecognized antioxidant antioxidant, substance that prevents or slows the breakdown of another substance by oxygen. Synthetic and natural antioxidants are used to slow the deterioration of gasoline and rubber, and such antioxidants as vitamin C (ascorbic acid), butylated hydroxytoluene . If confirmed, this finding would expand the repertoire of natural agents known to retard the potentially harmful oxidation of dietary fats. The Hendersons cooked up batch after batch of capsaicin at about 400 [degrees] F for two hours -- with and without oleic acid oleic acid /ole·ic ac·id/ (o-le´ik) a monounsaturated 18-carbon fatty acid found in most animal fats and vegetable oils; used in pharmacy as an emulsifier and to assist absorption of some drugs by the skin. , the primary monounsaturate in both olive and canola oils. They analyzed the resulting heat-fostered breakdown products with gas chromatography gas chromatography (GC) Type of chromatography with a gas mixture as the mobile phase. In a packed column, the packing or solid support (held in a tube) serves as the stationary phase (vapour-phase chromatography, or VPC) or is coated with a liquid stationary phase and mass spectrometry mass spectrometry or mass spectroscopy Analytic technique by which chemical substances are identified by sorting gaseous ions by mass using electric and magnetic fields. Hot chili aficionados have reported that heating brings out a pepper's flavor. And in the just-released November Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry, the Hendersons report a number of thermal decomposition products that might contribute to flavor -- especially vanillin va·nil·lin n. A white or yellowish crystalline compound found in vanilla beans and certain balsams and resins and used in flavorings and pharmaceuticals. , a methyl ether responsible for vanilla's sweet smell. Moreover, they note, though oleic acid usually oxidizes readily when heated, this oxidation "appears to be inhibited by the presence of capsaicin." Although they used rich mixes of capsaicin to oil (10 to 50 percent by weight), they also heated the oil for a long time. Still, in batches containing capsaicin, they detected less than 10 percent of oleic's normal oxidation products -- usually 1 to 2 percent of those seen when the fatty acid fatty acid, any of the organic carboxylic acids present in fats and oils as esters of glycerol. Molecular weights of fatty acids vary over a wide range. The carbon skeleton of any fatty acid is unbranched. Some fatty acids are saturated, i.e. was heated alone. The Hendersons teach at small local colleges -- he at Trinity in Hartford, she at Quinnipiac in Hamden. Susan says they hope to give their undergraduates a taste of this food chemistry through involvement in follow-up studies. |
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