小中大如何判定辣椒辣不辣？
在某网站看到这个问题，感觉很有趣。我也爱吃辣椒。倒wiki上看了一下，嗯，学到了一些东西。
Scoville scale ，可翻译成斯科威尔指标。这些方法用来测定具有辣味食品辣度。这些水果中都包含辣椒素，辣椒素是一种混合化合物，他能够刺激神经皮肤神经末梢，尤其是粘膜产生辣的感觉。Scoville Heat Units(SHU)，可翻译成斯科威尔指数，用来表示辣椒素的含量。
斯科威尔指标以方法创建者，美国化学家威尔伯.斯科威尔(Wilbur Scoville)的姓氏命名。他在1912年设计了一种测定辣味浓度的办法，称之为斯科威尔感官测试法。这个方法是将辣椒提取液稀释到可尝出辣味的最低浓度，此时的最大稀释倍数为斯科威尔指数。方法的原理和大致过程是用乙醇提取测试样品中的辣椒素类物质，然后过滤。将该提取液制成不同辣椒素浓度的糖水溶液，通过感官分析品评，找出刚好尝出辣味时溶液的稀释倍数，由此计算斯科威尔指数。 还有一个评定的办法是采用高效液相色谱来测定辣椒素的含量，然后通过一个数学换算因子将化学测量值和斯科威尔指标联系起来。因为使用高效液相色谱方法测定具有客观性，因此逐渐成为评定食品辣味浓度的主要方法。这种方法也称为吉利特方法(Gillett Method)，用这种方法得出的值不是科威尔指标，而是ASTA辛辣指数。
下面是原文：
The Scoville scale is a measure of the hotness or, more correctly, piquancy of a chili pepper. These fruits of the Capsicum genus contain capsaicin, a chemical compound which stimulates chemoreceptor nerve endings in the skin, especially the mucous membranes. The number of Scoville heat units (SHU) indicates the amount of capsaicin present. Some hot sauces use their Scoville rating in advertising as a selling point.
The scale is named after its creator, American chemist Wilbur Scoville, who developed a test for rating the pungency of chili peppers. His method, which he devised in 1912,[1] is known as the Scoville Organoleptic Test. An alternative method of quantitative analysis, known as high-performance liquid chromatography, directly measures capsaicinoids and attempts to relate the measured chemical values to the Scoville scale using a mathematical conversion factor
Spice heat is now usually measured by a method using high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC). This identifies and measures the heat-producing chemicals. They are then used in a mathematical formula in which they are weighted according to their relative capacity to produce a sensation of heat. This method yields results, not in Scoville units, but in ASTA pungency units. A measurement of one part capsaicin per million corresponds to about 15 Scoville units, and the published method says that ASTA pungency units can be multiplied by 15 and reported as Scoville units. This conversion is approximate, and Tainter and Grenis say that there is consensus that it gives results about 20–40% lower than the actual Scoville method would have given.
