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Unlocking the key to why chillies are hot

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A red chilli with a flame behind it
Unlocking the key to why chillies are hot

SUBJECTS:  Science

YEARS:  9–10


Have you ever eaten hot chilli and wondered why your mouth feels like it's on fire?

Watch this clip to find out all about the science of chillies, including what makes them hot, why they are hot and why they cause so much pain when we eat them.


Things to think about

  1. 1.What are some ways your body responds to eating a hot chilli? What is it that makes chillies hot and painful to eat? Can you think of any purpose for chillies being hot — how might it help the plant to survive over time?
  2. 2.What chemical substance found in chillies is responsible for their heat? Why does this substance fit into in our mouths like a lock and a key? When chilli is detected in the mouth, it triggers the brain to release something. What is released and how is this described in the clip?
  3. 3.The nervous system responds to the presence of chilli in our mouths by transmitting signals between different places in our body. Explain the parts of the nervous system involved in this response and how they react when we eat chilli. Explain how we know the body's response to chillies is a pain response rather than a taste response.
  4. 4.In the clip, a possible reason chillies evolved to be so hot is discussed. Find out more about the evolution of heat in chillies, and why the human response to eating them is linked to chillies' ability to germinate and therefore survive.



Date of broadcast: 2013


Copyright

Metadata © Australian Broadcasting Corporation and Education Services Australia Ltd 2012 (except where otherwise indicated). Digital content © Australian Broadcasting Corporation (except where otherwise indicated). Video © Australian Broadcasting Corporation (except where otherwise indicated). All images copyright their respective owners. Text © Australian Broadcasting Corporation and Education Services Australia is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License (CC BY-SA 4.0).

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