Interesting Facts about Chili Pepper ① Since ancient times, chili pepper has been loved by people all over the world as a delicacy.

Indians call chili peppers "red steak..." and Mexicans regard chili peppers as their national food.

In our country, chili pepper is a very important condiment in many areas. People can’t even eat without it, which shows that people attach great importance to it.

② Chili peppers contain a substance called capsaicin, which can stimulate the painful and hot areas on the skin and tongue, causing the brain to produce a spicy feeling of burning pain.

Scientists studied a type of wild chili pepper growing in the desert of southern Arizona, USA, to observe what animals feed on the chili pepper.

It was found that small mammals such as desert rats living nearby do not touch this spicy food at all. Eating peppers seems to be a patent of birds.

Experiments have shown that after pepper fruits are eaten by small mammals, the seeds are digested and excreted and can hardly germinate.

The digestive system of birds basically does not cause harm to pepper seeds.

Scientists believe that chili peppers are spicy because of the need to protect themselves.

Chili peppers don't want mammals to eat their fruits, so they produce capsaicin in the chili fruits. In this way, mammals who can't eat spicy food will give up, but birds can't taste the spicy taste at all, and their pain sensation

The sensory system is different from that of mammals. Capsaicin can give them a refreshing feeling and analgesic effects.

Therefore, when birds eat chili peppers, it feels like chewing gum, and the chili seeds in the fruit will be completely excreted through the birds' intestines, completing sowing again and again.

③Many people become addicted to chili peppers. Why is this?

This is because when the spicy taste of chili pepper stimulates the nerve endings of the tongue and mouth, the body's nervous system reflexively accelerates the heartbeat, increases saliva and sweat secretion, and accelerates gastrointestinal motility.

At the same time, the excitatory stimulation will cause the brain to release endorphins. If you continue to eat, the brain will think that pain is coming, so it will release more endorphins.

Endopeptides promote the secretion of dopamine, another substance in the brain.

Dopamine is an endocrine secretion in the brain, which is equivalent to the material basis of the "reward system" in the human body. It is a substance similar to adrenaline that can affect a person's mood and make people highly excited in a short period of time.

So the hedonistic brain fever makes us addicted to eating spicy food, so that we have the urge to eat when we smell the strong spicy flavor.

④ Well, scientists have found that people living in hot climates prefer to eat chili peppers - although people living in cold and humid areas are also suitable for eating chili peppers.

This is because they know that chili peppers can inhibit the growth of harmful bacteria in food and prevent food poisoning.

⑤In order to inhibit harmful bacteria in food, people in cold areas generally leave food outdoors overnight, which can effectively inhibit the growth of harmful bacteria.

But people in hot areas not only do not have such climatic conditions, but hot areas can easily breed various pathogens and parasites.

Through the long term.

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After studying, the researchers finally 4 concluded that pepper has a natural bactericidal effect - when people eat spicy food, the body temperature rises sharply, which can inhibit the reproduction of harmful bacteria in the food and kill harmful bacteria.

⑥Chili pepper originally grew in the tropical areas of Central and South America.

Americans began to eat chili peppers very early on.

It’s thanks to Columbus that chili peppers spread all over the world.

The explorer came across this special food after discovering the American continent and brought it back to Europe, whereupon chili peppers spread throughout the world.

Chili pepper was introduced to China in the late Ming Dynasty, about 30 years ago.

400 years.

This kind of spice becomes popular very quickly.

All over China, it has entered people’s daily diet.

The powerful chili pepper has undoubtedly brought about a dietary revolution, and it seems that no other traditional spice can compete with it.

1. According to the pinyin in brackets in paragraph ①, the word that should be filled in for "" is love.