Hi all, I love to eat hot peppers. I love hot sauce, and I always spice up anything that is spicable! (no dessert food). As a chemist, I have always wondered, "how could I extract *capsaicin from hot peppers to make a potent spice sauce?"

I have messed around a bit, and have come up with a crude extraction which extracts the capsaicin and **capsaicinoids in the form of an oil. The oil is similar in consistency to molasses, and boy, is it ever hot! I touch the end of a toothpick to the oil, and poke my tongue... And I will be suffering nicely

If anyone is interested, I will post my extraction method. In order for me to justify all that typing, I will need to see at least five people interested.

All fellow chemists, I'd invite to join me in trying to find a more potent extract. The molecular formula of capsaicin is: C18H27NO3. Now you see that nitrogen atom leads me to believe that an acid/base solution would be possible... But with all that hydrocarbon hanging off, it may just turn out to be a hellishly hot detergent!

Anyways, thanks all for reading this, and I hope that all of our minds together will be able to come up with the best extraction possible!
Happy spicing,
Borislav


*Capsaicin is the chemical in hot peppers which binds to nerve cells and triggers a pain impulse similar to being burned.

**Compounds similar to capsaicin, but providing their own unique burn.