[CH] Oily Seeds
Gail Donaghey (gdonaghey@bitstreet.com)
Mon, 08 Nov 1999 21:23:19 -0600
Capsaicinoid Enlightened Ones-
While removing seeds from pods for planting, I noticed a peculiar
characteristic of my open pollenated hybrids grown this year. The pods
were exceptionally hot, admittedly much too hot for me to eat except
when chopped up in food. When I dried them for seed, the seeds seemed
"sticky" in the pods so I put them on the dehy for a while figuring they
did not get really dry. Same results. Pulling down my trusty B&L
scope, I found that the seeds are sticking to the placental membrane
with thick droplets of oil. I assume the oil to be capsaicinoids, a
thick yellow-orange oil oozing out of the dry membrane. I've dried lots
of different very hot pods, including Red S.(tm) and Jamaican Reds, and
have not seen this before. Jim Campbell of Stonewall Chile Pepper Co.
(now out of business, I'm afraid) said his hottest hab powder was
usually a little oily/cakey, no matter how dry he got the pods. Maybe
the membrane is so thin when dried that it can't absorb the oils. I'm
wondering if the way a pod presents its cap. may make the difference in
some of the wide variations in perceived heat levels. For instance, the
hybrids exhibit thin membranes, usually with orange stripes covering the
membrane, presenting the cap right out front so it gets on everything.
Other pods with thicker membranes may spread the cap throughout, making
it less available to the mouth and other sensitive body parts. Whatever
the case, I'm a little surprised that such a concentration of the oils
is even visible in the dried pod. If it really is cap, I should
probably send off a few for HPLC. Anyone else seen anything like this?
If so, did you ever test the cap levels?
Thanks
Calvin