# Does shaking peppers while they are growing make them hotter **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [December 28, 2006, 5:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-shaking-peppers-while-they-are-growing-make-them-hotter/385841 "2006-12-28T05:26:28Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 5\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![I\_Know\_Nothing](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/f04885/32.png) [@I\_Know\_Nothing](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/I_Know_Nothing)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2006, 5:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-shaking-peppers-while-they-are-growing-make-them-hotter/385841/1 "2006-12-28T05:26:28Z")
A nutrition professor of mine told me that if you shake your peppers on the vine they will get hotter when you pick them. The logic was that capsacin (the chemical that makes peppers hot), being a natural defense, is produced more when the plant is under stress. Is this just superstition or is there any truth to it. ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2006, 11:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-shaking-peppers-while-they-are-growing-make-them-hotter/385841/2 "2006-12-28T11:54:25Z")
It’s true that capsaicin levels in stressed plants are higher, but I’m not sure that shaking constitutes stress - shortage of water and nutrients are the usual stress factors. Shaking tomato plants (which are related) supposedly increases fruit set by facilitating self-pollination; it may be that shaking pepper plants increases the number of pollination events and that the fruits then have a higher capsaicin content simply because they have more seeds inside them. ---
**Author:** ![levdrakon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/49beb7/32.png) [@levdrakon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/levdrakon)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2006, 12:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-shaking-peppers-while-they-are-growing-make-them-hotter/385841/3 "2006-12-28T12:28:32Z")
[QUOTE=Mangetout] It’s true that capsaicin levels in stressed plants are higher, but I’m not sure that shaking constitutes stress - shortage of water and nutrients are the usual stress factors. Shaking tomato plants (which are related) supposedly increases fruit set by facilitating self-pollination; it may be that shaking pepper plants increases the number of pollination events and that the fruits then have a higher capsaicin content simply because they have more seeds inside them. [/QUOTE] I agree stress increases capsaicin levels, but would like to point out that the seeds aren’t the hottest part. That’s a bit of a myth. Actually, I’m not sure that’s what you’re saying but I frequently see recipes recommending you remove the seeds to reduce the heat and I suppose to some extent you’re removing some volume of capsaicin but the seeds really aren’t the part people need be most concerned with. [From here.](http://www.fiery-foods.com/dave/garden8.asp) > [@](#): > > Pungency. Mature pods are more pungent than immature pods. Generally speaking, stressing pepper plants increases their pungency. The restriction of water, or overwatering, will increase the amount of capsaicin in the pods. The pungency is also increased when the fruit ripens at high temperatures rather than cooler ones. In fact, the pods of New Mexican varieties ripening at temperatures between 86 and 95 degrees have twice as much capsaicin as those ripening at 59 to 72 degrees. Nitrogen that is applied after fruit set can lower the capsaicin levels. > Pepper lore holds that the seeds are the hottest part of the pod, but this is not true. Although the seeds do absorb capsaicin during processing, in the fresh pods they are not very pungent at all. The most pungent part of the pod is the placental tissue, or cross wall, which holds the seeds and produces capsaicin. The pepper pod becomes less pungent from the stem end to the apex. ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2006, 2:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-shaking-peppers-while-they-are-growing-make-them-hotter/385841/4 "2006-12-28T14:14:49Z")
I hadn’t heard about the alleged shaking-heat connection - but supposedly if you (gently) shake or blow on seedlings of any plant frequently enough while they’re growing indoors, it makes the stems sturdier and helps harden the plant off before you bring it outdoors (simulating the stresses of nature). ---
**Author:** ![Balthisar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/balthisar/32/2825_2.png) [@Balthisar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Balthisar)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2007, 3:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-shaking-peppers-while-they-are-growing-make-them-hotter/385841/5 "2007-01-05T03:16:18Z")
Yeah, “stress” means heat, cold, and water. Seeds themselves are bitter, and that’s a good reason to do without them. Often when de-seeding, one removes the ribs, too, which carry a lot of the heat. If you remove the seeds and ribs from a jalepeño, you’ll find that they often taste reminiscently of bell pepper (that good, chile taste). If you eat chiles “just” for the heat, you’re missing out on a lot of the flavour.