Capsaicin, the natural, pain-inducing chemical found in chilli peppers, is well-known for its spiciness, but it might as well be water or milk compared to the spiciest natural compound known to man. Resiniferatoxin is a capsaicin analogue found in resin spurge (Euphorbia resinifera), a cactus-like plant commonly found in Morocco, and in Euphorbia poissonii found in Nigeria.Pepper X, the world’s hottest chilli pepper according to Guinness World Records, has a score of 2.69 million units on the Scoville Scale. Most people can’t handle that level of spiciness, but it pales in comparison to pure capsaicin, the substance that gives chillies their spiciness. It is rated at 16 million Scoville units. It’s a powerful irritant and can cause extreme pain and even death when consumed in high-enough quantities. But even capsaicin doesn’t come close to the spiciness of resiniferatoxin.It’s hard to imagine just how hot resiniferatoxin feels. It is rated at 16 billion Scoville units, making it 1,000 times more potent than capsaicin and virtually unbearable to mammals, even in minuscule quantities. It’s the most potent natural pain-inducing compound known to man, and is more of a chemical weapon than a spicy substance to be ingested. Resiniferatoxin is capable of producing pain beyond any culinary experience, and any contact can cause severe chemical burns and even destruction of pain-sensing nerve endings. You might be wondering why we’re even comparing it to capsaicin, the spicy substance in chilli peppers, and the answer is that it activates the same TRPV1 receptor in the human body.https://www.odditycentral.com/foods/the-worlds-spiciest-plant-makes-the-hottest-chilli-pepper-feel-mild-in-comparison.html
But whereas capsaicin stimulates the TRPV1 receptor for a short time, resiniferatoxin binds to this receptor with much greater intensity, causing calcium ions to flood into nerve cells in large quantities, leading to an overload that literally kills nerve endings, leading to permanent desensitisation.It is believed that the Euphorbia resinifera plant develops this compound as a survival strategy to deter herbivores from approaching. It’s very effective, as even minor contact can cause severe chemical burns.So the next time you enjoy a spicy chilli pepper or some hot sauce, know that it’s not even close to the world’s spiciest plant.
OP is a fag
>>21960365How long before countries start using this as a weapon against the foreigners and poors?
>>21960365>pain-inducingstopped reading right there.
>>21960365not food
>>21960365I thought that cacti were only native to the new world, but I guess this isnt a cactus
nerve endings grow back though. I got 3rd degree burns and destroyed all my nerve endings where it burnt but they all grew back and it's normal now.
>>21960365i have a high tolerance for heatahem
>>21960423That's true, but only in a botany autism sort of way. Technically, cacti are only plants in the Cactaceae family, which live in the Americas. But there are a ton of other spiny succulent plants that are more or less identical to cacti that live all over the world.
>>21960365This is an April Fools article.
>>21960365>in this moment I am euphorbic
>>21960365The tree they shot in The Gods Must Be Crazy to douse the bad guys with stinging sap is a species of euphorbia.
>>21960365where can i get some extract to prank my friends with?
>>21960489smashed my knee when i fell off my stakeboard. pure numb for days turned into searing burning pain when touched for weeks. now its like it never happened except when it gets cold it gets stiff and sore
>>21960808Just find some common spurge in your garden and throw the latex in their eyes :)
>>21960365>Scoville unitsI hate subjective "scales" so much
>>21960948How else would you navigate an objective scale when it comes to tolerance and sensitivity?Next you'll be trying to tell us that 'The Hot Ones' sauces aren't as hot as advertised or something.
>>21960365I can't wait for a bunch of heat hipsters to try this.
>>21960970nta, but measuring the ppm of capsaicin in a hot sauce would be more objective than having a guy in a labcoat dilute the hot sauce until he can no longer taste any spiciness.the latter is much cheaper than measuring the capsaicin ppm in high performance liquid chromatography, where an entry grade machine would cost you upwards of $20.000.there's also the issue that capsaicin isn't the only compound that can be perceived as spicy, and that there is no objective way to compare the spiciness of these different compounds. at that point you're back to the scoville scale anyways, and scoville tests have an uncertainty of up to 50% between different labs.
>>21961027It's highly toxic and a violent purgative among other thing. The OP's source referring to it as "spicy" is dangerously irresponsible.
>>21960365I CAN'T WAIT TO ADD THIS TO MY COLLECTION HOT SAUCES! IT WILL GO RIGHT NEXT TO SUPER MEGA DEATH ASS RIPPER 9001 DELUXE LIMITED 1 OF 6000000 COLLECTABLE MARVEL EDITIONS
>>21961410>1 OF 6000000It's 1 of 271000
>>21960365that is nice to know. thx OP
i'm just waiting for a food YouTuber to eat one of these already
>>21960365Has anyone else noticed blog-style clickbait threads being created like this? I've seen multiple on /o/, and now here. It's like someone is porting FB/Insta reels to 4chan or something
