Last year, my sister decided to spice up her vegetable garden by planting Chinese Five-Color Peppers. We were curious: could the color of the peppers affect their heat level? After all, if they ripened to different shades, did that mean some were fiercer than others?
My slightly out-of-control hobby had left me with a powerful tool at home—an HPLC-FLD machine, capable of measuring capsaicin with very high precision.
After testing all six pepper colors (I tested light red and dark red separately), I discovered something surprising: their heat levels were nearly identical, ranging between 6,800 and 7,100 Scoville Heat Units. In other words, their color had almost no influence on their spiciness.
But the adventure didn’t end there. My father loves making sambal from our homegrown peppers, and I wanted to surprise him with a collection of different sambals—one so fiery he’d only dare to taste it once! If anyone has homemade sambal and is willing to share, I’d love to test its heat level. In return, I’ll send back a selection of sambals in exchange—assuming there’s enough for a proper measurement and a few sample tubes.