Knowledge Base
The Science
From Wilbur Scoville’s 1912 taste test to HPLC chromatography and TRPV1 receptor biology — everything you need to understand pepper heat at a molecular level.
10 guides covering measurement, chemistry, and perception.
What Is the Scoville Scale?
Wilbur Scoville's 1912 invention and how it became the universal measure of pepper heat.
How SHU Is Measured
HPLC vs organoleptic testing — the modern science behind every SHU number.
SHU / Capsaicin Converter
Interactive tool: convert between SHU and capsaicin concentration in ppm, mg/g, or percent.
How Hot Is 13 Million SHU?
Context for the top of our lineup — comparisons to jalapeños, pepper spray, and pure capsaicin.
Capsaicin vs Pain
How capsaicin triggers TRPV1 receptors and why the burn isn't heat — it's a chemical signal.
What Stops the Burn?
Milk, sugar, fat — and why water makes it worse. The chemistry of capsaicin relief.
Dilution Math
What '2 million SHU' actually means as a dilution ratio.
The HPLC Method
Technical deep-dive on High-Performance Liquid Chromatography for capsaicinoid analysis.
Organoleptic vs HPLC
Two methods, one scale — why the Scoville name stuck even after the science moved on.
SHU by Pepper
Reference table from bell pepper (0 SHU) to Pepper X (2.69M) to Scoville Splice specimens (3–13M).