I think they supply the starting materials as well as the enzymatic machinery.
I knew the allium stuff was sulfur-based so was surprised to see sulfur in only one of the five things in your lead toot.
Nov 7, 2026, 1:57 PM@idlestate Oh, you actually looked at the molecules. 😅
Now that you mentioned it, I looked at them too, and that is indeed surprising. These are all so very different in both composition and structure, and yet we perceive the end result as simillar.
Nov 7, 2026, 2:29 PM@clacke @idlestate Not that similar in my opinion.
Nov 8, 2026, 1:39 PM@mansr They're not the same, but similar enough that this article makes sense, and various cultures call them all some equivalent of "spicy" or even the analogy "hot".
For me "hot" is mostly for chili peppers and Sichuan peppers, but e.g. Cantonese considers all five to make the food "laak".
Nov 8, 2026, 4:38 PM@clacke @idlestate The mustard/horseradish heat is quite different from that of chilli. Much more nasal.
Yeah, I am trying to get over a sort of overwhelm at the riotous variety of biologically relevant molecules.
Interesting to see the molecules, but I always separated them by physiological reactions.
Piperine makes me sneeze, but it takes a lot to burn.
Capsaicin burns my mouth and lips.
Ginger helps clear my pharynx and throat.
Mustard goes straight up my nose and clears out my nasal hairs.
Sanshool bites the tip of my tongue.
And whatever is in haberneros can burn on the way out.
@Rozzychan @idlestate @clacke If you have Capsaicin on your fingers, it burns wherever or whatever you touch.
Nov 8, 2026, 1:42 PM