# I have wussy taste buds, so why do I want to grow..... **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [January 16, 2009, 11:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-have-wussy-taste-buds-so-why-do-i-want-to-grow/481675 "2009-01-16T23:54:15Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![MacTech](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c0e974/32.png) [@MacTech](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MacTech)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2009, 11:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-have-wussy-taste-buds-so-why-do-i-want-to-grow/481675/1 "2009-01-16T23:54:15Z")
Why do I want to grow the [Naja Jolokia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Naga_Jolokia_pepper) hot pepper, supposedly the _hottest_ hot pepper in the world (up to 1,050,000 Scoville heat units) when I can barely tolerate Jalapenos? (2,500-8000 Scovilles) Maybe it’s because of _this_ cool factoid; [QUOTE=Wikipedia] One seed from a Naga Jolokia can produce sustained intense pain sensations in the mouth for up to 30 minutes before subsiding. Extreme care should be taken when ingesting the pepper and its seeds, so as to not get it in the eyes.\ In northeastern India the **peppers are smeared on fences or used in smoke bombs as a safety precaution to keep wild elephants at a distance.** [/quote] Yes, it’s hot enough to be used as _ELEPHANT REPELLENT_, not that we have a glut of wild rogue Elephants here in Maine, but you can never be too careful… they’re so good at hiding 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Fish](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/bc8723/32.png) [@Fish](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fish)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2009, 11:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-have-wussy-taste-buds-so-why-do-i-want-to-grow/481675/2 "2009-01-16T23:58:30Z")
I bet you could use those to keep cats out of the vegetable garden. ---
**Author:** ![Apocalypso](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/f19dbf/32.png) [@Apocalypso](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Apocalypso)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2009, 12:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-have-wussy-taste-buds-so-why-do-i-want-to-grow/481675/3 "2009-01-17T00:09:02Z")
Scoville units are a scam! ---
**Author:** ![levdrakon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/49beb7/32.png) [@levdrakon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/levdrakon)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2009, 12:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-have-wussy-taste-buds-so-why-do-i-want-to-grow/481675/4 "2009-01-17T00:15:00Z")
> [@Fish](#): > > I bet you could use those to keep cats out of the vegetable garden. And squirrels. People sprinkle crushed hot pepper where their bulbs are planted to keep critters from digging. Birds are immune to hot pepper, so you can put some in the bird food if squirrels are robbing it. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2009, 12:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-have-wussy-taste-buds-so-why-do-i-want-to-grow/481675/5 "2009-01-17T00:31:20Z")
More seriously, superhot peppers like this or the habañero do have a legitimate use in human food. The key is just that you have to dilute them a lot. If you add, say, jalapeños to a dish to make it hot, you’ll get heat, but you’ll also get the flavor of the pepper, which might not be wanted in some dishes. But if you start with these megaScoville atrocities and dilute them to a usable heat, then all of the flavor other than the heat will be diluted away, and you won’t have to worry about it. ---
**Author:** ![MysteryFellow63427](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a88e4f/32.png) [@MysteryFellow63427](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MysteryFellow63427)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2009, 12:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-have-wussy-taste-buds-so-why-do-i-want-to-grow/481675/6 "2009-01-17T00:47:23Z")
> [@Apocalypso](#): > > Scoville units are a scam! Bumper sticker? But yeah: > [@wikipedia](#): > > In Scoville’s method, a solution of the pepper extract is diluted in sugar syrup until the “heat” is no longer detectable to a panel of (usually five) tasters; the degree of dilution gives its measure on the Scoville scale. Thus a sweet pepper or a bell pepper, containing no capsaicin at all, has a Scoville rating of zero, meaning no heat detectable, even undiluted. Conversely, the hottest chilis, such as habaneros, have a rating of 200,000 or more, indicating that their extract has to be diluted 200,000-fold before the capsaicin presence is undetectable. The greatest weakness of the Scoville Organoleptic Test is its imprecision, because it relies on human subjectivity. ---
**Author:** ![Fugazi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/f08c70/32.png) [@Fugazi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fugazi)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2009, 1:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-have-wussy-taste-buds-so-why-do-i-want-to-grow/481675/7 "2009-01-17T01:03:19Z")
“Check it out, I use this stuff for wild elephant repellent” “Does it work?” “Do you see any wild elephants around?”