chinense Onion Bhut - organosulfur compounds in capsicum?

[Spicegeist]

I grew out a bunch of different kinds of Bhuts and Naga Morichs this year.

One of the bhuts came out very hot and especially aromatic, in fact it has a distinctive onion aroma in addition to the usual bhut tones.

Have you experienced this in any of the bhuts you've grown? Here are some pics:

 

[fishing4fun2]

I love the way Bhuts smell but never ran into that before.

What did you eat for lunch? J/K

Nice looking pepper, I have been thinking about planting onions inbetween plants as they repel some bag guys.

 

[Stefan_W]

I'd save the seeds and see if this look and scent repeats for a few more growing cycles.

 

[ColoradoRonin]

I grew Giant Bhuts this year.. but hint of onion.
Very interesting...

 

[Spicegeist]

I love the way Bhuts smell but never ran into that before.

What did you eat for lunch? J/K

Nice looking pepper, I have been thinking about planting onions inbetween plants as they repel some bag guys.

Ha, I've had some other people smell it and also detect the onion scent. It was grown in a container... not near any onions.

I'd save the seeds and see if this look and scent repeats for a few more growing cycles.

Yeah, I'll probably grow it next year...

I grew Giant Bhuts this year.. but hint of onion.
Very interesting...

Must just be genetic chance...

Any chemists out there know if Allyl isothiocyanate or similar compounds are also found in capsicum?

 

[Burning Colon]

i have been snacking on bombay morich, dorset naga and assam indian carbon and have never tasted that onion thing you described. mine are all in containers and not near onions either(snicker) but i will admit to some of the first small indian carbons having more of a red habanero flavour..... now that really disappointed me! but when the plants went into full production the pods delivered a nice sweet aroma and flavour...... actually better than the yellow 7 pot.

maybe you sprayed the plants with insect repellent and forgot to wash the pods? (just tossing crap out there, could be anything)

 

[Spicegeist]

No chemicals were ever applied to my plants.

Here is part of an abstract from a research article, so sulfur compounds have been found, maybe this has a particularly high content... I have a great nose for aromas:

Volatile constituents of ripe fruits of 16 Capsicum accessions from the annuum−chinense−frutescens complex, with different aroma impressions and geographical origins, were isolated by headspace-solid phase microextraction (HS-SPME) and analyzed by gas chromatography−olfactometry−mass spectrometry (GC-sniffing port-MS). More than 300 individual compounds could be detected in the studied genotypes; most of them could be identified by comparing mass spectra and retention times with authentic reference substances or literature data. Esters and terpenoids were the main groups, although other minor compounds, such as nitrogen and sulfur compounds, phenol derivatives, norcarotenoids, lipoxygenase derivatives, carbonyls, alcohols, and other hydrocarbons, were also identified.

permalink: http://dx.doi.org/10.1021/jf903931t

 

[GA Growhead]

I grew onions in between my peppers. Nothing like that ever happened. Wonder if that onion smell would come out if you dried & powdered those?

 

[Spicegeist]

I grew onions in between my peppers. Nothing like that ever happened. Wonder if that onion smell would come out if you dried & powdered those?

It wasn't dried, just a fresh pepper.

 

[3/5King]

Send a pod this way, I'll confirm or deny the onion smell.....an outside party opinion...lol

 

[Spicegeist]

Send a pod this way, I'll confirm or deny the onion smell.....an outside party opinion...lol

I actually will do that if the plant survives the overwintering...

 

[3/5King]

Sweet, I hope it does because I love onion. That would be very cool. Either way it will make you cry!