On Thu, 27 Oct 2011 12:50:58 -0400, James Silverton wrote:

> On 10/27/2011 12:35 PM, Peter Duncanson (BrE) wrote:
>> On Thu, 27 Oct 2011 11:00:46 -0500, >
>> wrote:
>>
>>> On Thu, 27 Oct 2011 10:18:57 -0400, James Silverton wrote:
>>>
>>>> Today's "word of the day" in the online Oxford English Dictionary is
>>>> "Scoville" as in the heat measure for peppers. This was once a test
>>>> done by diluting capsaicin solution until a board of tasters said
>>>> that its heat reached the level of the pepper in question. Pure
>>>> capsaicin is supposed to be 15,000,000 Scoville units. I wonder how
>>>> on earth they measured that?
>>>
>>> The Scoville test involves diluting a small measure of the pepper
>>> extract with sugar water to the point where heat is barely detectable
>>> and undetectable by a panel of 5 tasters. The number of small units
>>> of water (equaling the unit of the pepper extract) required is it's
>>> Scoville rating.
>>>
>>> If what you quoted is what the OED says, then you need to contact them
>>> to get it right. Or learn how to interpret English.
>>>
>>> (alt.usage.english newsgroup fixed)
>>>
>>> -sw
>>
>> OED:
>>
>> a. Scoville test n. (also Scoville organoleptic test) a
>> subjective measurement of the pungency of a chilli pepper, based
>> on the detectability of pungency in a solution made from the
>> pepper in question.
>>
>> b. Scoville unit n. (also Scoville heat unit) (originally) the
>> factor by which the chilli-pepper solution is diluted in the
>> Scoville test, used as a measure of the relative pungency of the
>> pepper; (hence) an equivalent number derived from an objective
>> test, esp. the use of gas chromatography to measure the quantity
>> of capsaicin in a pepper.
>>
>> That seems to match your description of the Scoville test.
>>
>>
> Interesting that you caught my mistaken post to a.u.eglish. I was not
> really doing a direct quote for r.f.cooking, just going by memory but
> the number "15,000,000" did come from one of the OED quotes. I just
> wondered how the number could possibly be assigned to capsaicin.

Step 1: purify a ml of capsacin.
2: mix into 1 liter of water
3: taste It will taste somewhat hotter than an Jalapeno
( 15000 Scoville units.)
4: mix 1ml of this solution into 1 liter water and taste. Decide you
can still taste the hotness.
5: mix 1 ml of this solution with 14 ml water (1 ml solution + 14 ml
water gives 1 in 15 solution)

Decide that you can taste a 1 in 14 solution and not a 1 in 15
solution.
Therefore 1/1000 x 1/1000 x 1/15 = 1/15,000,000