Hot peppers add spice to dishes, but can cause discomfort when handling. Capsaicin, the compound that makes peppers hot, can cause irritation on skin and mucous membranes. To handle peppers safely, avoid touching the internal veins and wear gloves or handle under running water. Dry peppers can still contain oils, so avoid getting particles in the nose and eyes.
Hot peppers are a commonly used ingredient in various types of cuisines to add a spicy flavor to the dish. There are many varieties of chiles or chili peppers, each with its own appearance, flavor, and level of heat. The sensation of heat or burning sensation is the spicy taste of the pepper that is felt in the mouth when the pepper is eaten. However, the burning sensation can also be felt on the skin, as can happen when handling hot peppers.
Depending on the variety of chili, skin contact can cause severe discomfort. If one has to handle hot peppers in preparing spicy cuisine, certain precautions can be taken to prevent discomfort. It is first important to know which parts of the pepper to avoid when handling hot peppers.
Most of a pepper’s heat is in its internal veins, also called ribs. This area is close to the peppercorns, which often absorb this heat and can transfer it to your mouth or skin. These are the areas of the pepper that, when in contact with the skin, are most likely to cause discomfort.
What makes a pepper hot is a mixture of chemical compounds called capsacinoids. This blend of compounds is called capsacin. Capsacin is a strong alkaloid that causes irritation when in contact with the skin and mucous membranes. Hotter peppers contain higher amounts of capsacin and you can tell the difference if you choose to eat or just handle the peppers, such as in food preparation.
The most likely way to come into contact with capsaicin is to come into contact with chili juices, as the juices contain oils which, in turn, contain the capcasin. The outer waxy coating of a pepper usually prevents an intact pepper from transferring the capsacin-laden juices to the skin. Therefore, handling chili peppers without cutting them is relatively safe.
The safest way to handle peppers safely is to create a physical barrier between your skin and the pepper. This ensures that none of the juices from the pepper are absorbed by the skin. Latex gloves can be worn to handle peppers safely. Another way to safely handle chili peppers is to do it under running water. This way, a good deal of the hot juices are washed off the skin rather than seeping in and causing a burning sensation.
To safely handle chiles in dry form, you can worry less about coming in contact with high amounts of capsacin-laden juices. However, even though most of the water has been evaporated from the pepper, the oils remain, so care must be taken. In the case of the use of chili peppers, as well as particularly dry chili peppers, one should avoid letting tiny particles float into the nose and eyes.
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