Chilli Pepper Sensor - Isis Project No 3670

Introduction

An accurate electrochemical sensing method for determining the “hotness” of chilli peppers in foodstuffs.

Marketing Opportunity

Capsaicin is the chemical responsible for the hot taste or piquancy of chilli peppers, and measuring the concentration of capsaicin is an indicator of “hotness” of any given chilli pepper, hot sauce and other related foodstuff. Currently the concentration of capsaicin in foods is measured using the Scoville-unit based system, which can be traced back to 1912.  Five tasters are given increasingly diluted samples until they can no longer taste the heat; clearly very subjective.  High Performance Liquid Chromatography (HPLC) is also used, but is disfavoured on grounds of its requirement for expensive equipment.

The Oxford Invention

This invention is a sensitive electroanalytical methodology for the determination of capsaicin using adsorptive stripping voltammetry with multi-walled carbon nanotube (MWCNT) based electrodes.  The MWCNTs offer the advantage of having a huge surface area for the adsorption of capsaicin, which leads to an enhanced electrochemical response. The new invention determines capsaicin concentration electrochemically and the results tally very well to the Scoville scale and also to HPLC measurements.

This analytical method has been further developed into a screen-printed electrode, demonstrating that this approach can be incorporated into a sensing device that is easy to use, accurate and inexpensive to produce.  The Oxford sensor, coupled to a simple potentiostat device, could be used by the food industry to ascertain capsaicin concentration, in Scoville units.  There may also be a possibility for making a low cost device for restaurant and domestic use.

Patent Status

This work is the subject of new UK patent application, and Isis would like to talk to companies interested in developing the commercial opportunity that this represents.  Please contact the Isis Project Manager to discuss this further.

Keywords:

Chilli Pepper
Electrochemical Sensor
Capsaicin
Scoville Unit Screen Printed Electrode

Request Further Information: Project Number 3670 Chilli Pepper Sensor