Capsaicin, an active ingredient that gives the chili the characteristic spiciness, is not the most spicy substance found in nature . In the Scoville scale, used to assess the spiciness of food, it is in fact in third place, preceded by two of its analogues:
- Tinyathoxin : naturally present in the plant Euphorbia poissonii, common in northern Nigeria
- Resiniferatoxin : naturally present in Euphorbia resinifera, a plant similar to a cactus native to Morocco, and in Euphorbia poissonii .
The most spicy substance present in nature is therefore Resiniferatoxin .
