Because of so many questions, I thought it would be a good time to open a general discussion about chili pepper seeds. Here are some points of interest to consider.
Are Chili Pepper Seeds Toxic or Poisonous?
No, they are not. People eat them every day without issue.
Are Chili Pepper Seeds Spicy?
Chili pepper seeds are actually NOT spicy, as they do not contain capsaicin, the chemical that makes peppers hot. Capsaicin is actually located within the whitish pithy pepper innards, the placenta, which you can remove to make the pepper milder in most cases. Pepper seeds might be coated with some of the oils from this pith, so if you do detect heat, it will be from the pith, not the seeds themselves. First, some pepper seeds can have a bitter taste, which may affect recipes with subtle flavors. Oftentimes, hotter peppers don’t lend themselves to recipes requiring subtle flavors, as many of them are in your face with heat, but as you cook more and more with peppers and appreciate how nuanced they can be, removing them may benefit the overall flavor. Also, when removing the inner pith of the peppers, which normally reduces the overall heat, you’ll wind up removing the seeds anyway. You’ll hear some people say, “To reduce the heat of your final dish, remove the pepper seeds”. This is not accurate, as mentioned above. The heat resides within that whitish pith, which holds the seeds, so when removing that for heat purposes, you’ll lose the seeds anyway. If your goal is to make a smooth sauce, then you can either remove the seeds before cooking, or better yet, strain the final cooked product after processing to remove the remaining solids, which will contain the seeds. I hope you find this useful! – Mike H.
