The Core of the Sun enhancing her knowledge of chili peppers by extending an invitation to his farm. There, she sampled and grew an assortment of peppers. Working with chili peppers allowed Sinisalo to understand factors such as the Scoville rating which is determined by capsaicinoids. The Scoville scale measures the spiciness (heat) of the pepper. One can explore the Scoville ratings, health benefits, and growing techniques of peppers on Kilpinen's website In the Core of the Sun's Afterword, Sinisalo describes the Transcendental Capsaicinophilic Society as “ a real, though somewhat tongue-in-cheek, group that can be found on the Internet.” A quick Google search reveals
Scoville scale the parts-per-million by 16." HPLC results permit the measurement of a substance’s capsaicin capacity to produce perceived heat ("pungency"). This method yields results in American Spice Trade Association (ASTA) "pungency units", which are defined as one part capsaicin per million parts dried pepper mass. For parts per million (ppm) measurements: "Scoville Heat Units are calculated in parts per million of heat (ppm H) based on sample dry weight according to the following equation from ASTA (1985): ppm H = [Peak area of capsaicin + (0.82)(peak area of dihydrocapsaicin)](ppm standard)(ml acetonitrile) ÷ (Total capsaicin peak area of standard)(g sample). Conversion to