Why some like it hot: The science of spiciness

Spiciness, or its perception, occurs in most cuisines worldwide. The chili pepper of the genus Capsicum (family Solanaceae) is one of the world's most widely used spices, found in thousands of recipes and sometimes eaten ...

PhD student grows bell pepper with a hint of chilli

Martijn Eggink is cultivating a new bell pepper variety with an exotic flavour. This is the basis for his PhD research at Wageningen UR, in which he will correlate the flavour of the bell pepper to sugars, acids and aroma ...

Research shows how the body senses a range of hot temperatures

The winter sun feels welcome, but not so a summer sunburn. Research over the past 20 years has shown that proteins on the surface of nerve cells enable the body to sense several different temperatures. Now scientists have ...