THE NOBEL PRIZE in Medicine, in 2021, was awarded to David Julius of the University of California, San Francisco and Ardem Pata-poution of Scripps Research Institute in La Jolla, California, for their discovery of receptors for temperature and touch. These were based on a food so ubiquitous it is difficult to imagine Indian cuisine without it. And yet, it hasn't been with us very long. Like the tomato, the potato, the sapota and chocolate, it was a gift from the Aztecs cultures and other Native American annihilated by Europeans. As they rampaged round the globe, marauding European hordes distributed their plunder of horticultural skill among other cultures. After the Portuguese had massacred Goa (1510), they consoled us with chilli. From 1510 to 2021, chilli has had a brilliant global career, crowned by the Nobel Prize. It is a suitable moment to reconsider this burning fruit of genocide.
The Nobel was awarded for an investigation centred on chilli's principal ingredient, capsaicin, which stings the tongue with unbearable heat. Today, the heat of chilli is culinary machismo. Chilli fresh green, dried red, powdered, or ground down to its essence-spikes every dish like a snarl of barbed wire. Why does chilli, and specifically capsaicin, burn?
In 1997, Julius discovered a receptor for capsaicin. Soon, he found that this receptor could be activated by heat as well-so this was a receptor that transmitted the message 'burn' to the brain.
هذه القصة مأخوذة من طبعة March 2023 من Reader's Digest India.
ابدأ النسخة التجريبية المجانية من Magzter GOLD لمدة 7 أيام للوصول إلى آلاف القصص المتميزة المنسقة وأكثر من 9,000 مجلة وصحيفة.
بالفعل مشترك ? تسجيل الدخول
هذه القصة مأخوذة من طبعة March 2023 من Reader's Digest India.
ابدأ النسخة التجريبية المجانية من Magzter GOLD لمدة 7 أيام للوصول إلى آلاف القصص المتميزة المنسقة وأكثر من 9,000 مجلة وصحيفة.
بالفعل مشترك? تسجيل الدخول
Next Stop: Who Knows?
We wanted to do a once-in-a-lifetime trek in northern Laos. Just getting there became the adventure
ME & MY SHELF
Former director-general of the Delhi Policy Group, Radha Kumar is an academic, author and policy analyst. Her most recent book, The Republic Relearnt: Renewing Indian Democracy (1947-2024), explores the triumphs and the democratic decay of the Indian Republic.
The Journey Of The Kon-Tiki
Is it possible to cross the Pacific on a wooden raft? Natural scientist Thor Heyerdahl risks everything to prove it
Hot and (Un)bothered
Not that anyone in India needs to be reminded, but summer is here, and the collective energy dissipated by people complaining about the heat is making climate change even worse.
GOTCHA!
We asked for it: What’s the best prank you ever pulled?
Do More With Your Tech
You're undoubtedly missing out on cool features that can help make life easier, safer and even more fun
Why Water Workouts Work
Swimming and other aquatic exercises have special benefits
Surf's Up... Again
A Hawaiian helps victims of a devastating fire in the most Hawaiian way possible
HUMOUR in UNIFORM
I got sloppy with my shaving one morning and nicked my skin.
Leave the WILD Things Be
Wild animals have been made to serve a variety of human needs, including recreational ones. It’s up to everyday folk to decry the use of animals for entertainment