Nowadays, as an important seasoning, chili pepper can be said to occupy nearly half of the eating world. People's favorite boiled fish, spicy crayfish, skewers, red oil hot pot, Mao Blood Wang, spicy duck neck, minced pepper fish head and so on are inseparable from the seasoning of chili peppers.
"Spicy" in China, has become more and more people's taste preference, Mr. Zhou Zuoren also said: "Among the five tastes, only spicy is not necessary, but what I like is spicy!" "For people who are not spicy and unhappy, eating spicy can refresh the taste buds, and there is a painful and refreshing eating experience, which is very enjoyable." So why does chili make itself so spicy? It is actually the result of natural selection. In addition to humans, are there other animals that like to eat chili peppers?
Strictly speaking, spicy is not a taste sensation felt by the taste buds, but a burning pain caused by the stimulation of the mouth. The "spicy taste" of chili peppers comes from an alkaloid called "capsaicin". Capsaicin is found in the fruit of chili peppers, and this substance can bind to the vanillin receptor subtype 1 (VR1) of sensory neurons in mammals, resulting in a burning, painful discomfort, which is what we call a "spicy" sensation.
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" Data-track="4" Why did > chili peppers evolve to be spicy? </h1>
We know that the evolutionary goals of all species are survival and reproduction. The same is true for peppers, which need to be able to reproduce with two things: first ensure the survival of the seeds, and then allow their seeds to spread to a wider area.
Pepper plant height is short, easy to be targeted by some mammals, its seed shell is very thin, the seed is small and tender, the animal in the feeding process, chew with teeth, pepper seeds are crushed, lose activity. Once the chili seeds are destroyed, the peppers cannot germinate and reproduce.
Some peppers containing capsaicin are hot and spicy to eat, and most mammals can't adapt to this intense "stimulus" and will avoid it. This prevents mammals from coming to eat them, allowing the pepper seeds to survive.
Plants need to spread seeds, and animal transmission is one of the ways, and pepper seeds are spread by birds. So aren't birds afraid of spicy? Birds do not have capsaicin receptors in their bodies, and they are not sensitive to spicy taste, that is, they do not feel spicy! And birds have no teeth, and they swallow the whole pepper fruit without chewing, and the seeds will not be destroyed. And the digestive system of birds is simple, and it is impossible to digest pepper seeds, so the seeds can pass through the intestines intact, and the birds fly far away, the seeds can be excreted with the bird droppings and spread everywhere, and the bird droppings can also provide nutrients for them, so that they can germinate and reproduce better.
Therefore, in the long process of evolution, those "not spicy" pepper varieties will often be eaten by mammals, unable to be passed on, and over time they will be eliminated by nature. At the same time, those species containing capsaicin, because mammals do not eat, only birds feed and can spread germination. Therefore, the chili pepper containing capsaicin has been retained, and it has continued to grow and develop.
In addition, there is a hypothesis that peppers produce capsaicin also to ward off fungal infections. Many pepper fruits will have holes in the surface of small insects, which can easily lead to fungal infections, which in turn destroy pepper seeds. More than 90% of wild pepper fruits show signs of fungal infection. Experiments have shown that capsaicin can kill fungi, and the hotter peppers have fewer fungal diseases than the less spicy peppers that appear after being bitten by the same number of insects.
Peppers evolved to avoid being eaten by omnivorous mammals, and may also be to ward off fungi, but peppers never expected that after humans appeared, they would be used as condiments and so popular!
Jiangxi's "Huangling Sunshine Autumn" (Image from Aerial Photography Of China)
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" data-track="13" > why are humans so obsessed with spicy food? </h1>
Since the vast majority of mammals do not touch chili peppers, why are humans as mammals so obsessed with eating spicy peppers?
When people eat chili peppers, when stimulated by capsaicin to produce a spicy taste, they will produce a burning and painful feeling, and after receiving this feeling, the brain will instinctively think that the mouth is burned, and begin to secrete a neurotransmitter called endorphin to suppress pain. Endorphins produce a pleasure similar to morphine, and are also known as the "natural opium" of the human body, which can make people feel very happy. Continue to eat, the brain will think that there is pain coming, so it continues to release endorphins, which will make people form a painful and happy feeling in the process of eating spicy, which is addictive.
As a result, chili peppers became a tool for people to trick the brain into taking endorphins (pleasures). The pain caused by capsaicin is not really a burn, does not cause real danger, but can trick the nervous system into thinking that the human body has been injured to obtain happiness. When encountering humans who can create happiness from the pain caused by capsaicin, chili peppers can only sigh. Eat spicy for a while, always eat spicy has been cool. So, there's nothing that a hot pot can't solve, and if there is, it's two!