On 10/30/2011 11:18 AM, Doug Smith wrote:
> 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
>

It seems a rather circular and subjective method but it might work. As I
mentioned, it probably doesn't matter since hotness of peppers is now
assigned on a basis of the amount of capsaicin determined by gas
chromatography.