not hot peppers

[WBLANCHARD at mecn.mass.edu]

Dave - a short article in Chile Pepper magazine, Oct. 1993 suggests that less
	than perfect environmental conditions actually may increase the 
	Scoville rating. Factors such as too much/too little water, soil
        composition pH, relative humidity, uv radiation, fertilizers, night
	and day temperatures may also play an environmental role in capsaicin
	content.  This may make some evolutionary sense; it has been suggested
	that capsaicin protects the pepper seeds from mammalian predation and in
	tough times, it is not only peppers that are affected, but all organisms        in the ecosystem so it is to the pepper plants advantage to add another
	level of vigilance to ward off all those hungry critters.

	wally blanchard <wblanchard at mecn.mass.edu>