The Scoville Scale

The Scoville scale was invented by pharmacist Wilbur Scoville in 1912. It used as a tool for measuring the spiciness or pungency of peppers. The scale measures the amount of capsaicin (the chemical compound that causes spicy heat) in a pepper and assigns it a number rating in Scoville Heat Units (SHUs). Wilbur Scoville used the process of dilution to determine the SHU of a pepper.

Since its invention, the Scoville scale has come a long way. In modern day science, to obtain more accurate results, scientists use a technique called High-Performance Liquid Chromatography (HPLC) to determine the exact concentration of capsaicin in a pepper.

HPLC technique measures the pungency of a pepper in American Spice Trade Association (ASTA) Pungency Units. This number can be plugged into a formula that converts it to Scoville Units. Even though the process has changed since Wilbur Scoville's time, we continue to use his Scoville scale to measure the heat of peppers.

Credit: (MasterClass, 2021)