Intro
Capsicin – Protecting wires and cables against rodents.
Rodents, like the weasel and rat in the above images, have been a plague on society since ancient times, eating and contaminating stored food but modern rodents bring modern issues like chewing through wires in cars and buildings. In the past this chewing was just a means for the rodents to keep their teeth from overgrowing, however as companies try to create more environmentally friendly materials, soy based biodegradable wire coverings have become an attractive source of food for rodents.
One of the simplest deterrents is Reed Pacifics Microencapsulated Capsaicin. With the microcapsules being able to attach to the outside or objects or be embedded into the material during production, these microcapsules deliver a burst of spicy capsaicin directly to the rodent.
Benefits
What is capsaicin?
Capsaicin is the active molecule responsible for giving chili peppers their signature pungency (spicy heat). Capable of activating the TRPV1 protein which is designed to sense and regular body temperatures. When Capsaicin comes in contact with TRPV1 it simulates scalding heat which causes a physical reaction and sensation in the body.
Molar teeth in mammals would grind and destroy chili pepper seeds, as such it is believed that capsaicin was naturally selected to repel mammals away from the plant. In an ironic twist of fate it was this very same capsaicin which caused chili peppers to become one of the most cultivated plants around the world.
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Scoville Scale
With chili peppers becoming a staple in many different types of cuisines, a scale to rank the pungency of the different chili peppers was becoming more and more desired.
Enter Wilbur Scoville, an American pharmacist in 1912 who set out to create his very own pungency scale. The self titled Scoville Scale used ground down chili peppers diluted in sugar water which was then tasted by a panel of experts. The mixture was further diluted down until all the experts could no longer feel the heat from the chili peppers.
Though very subjective this scale did give people a baseline measurement of how hot each type of chili pepper. In modern times this method has been left behind for a quantitative test for Capsaicinoids using high pressure liquid chromatography (HPLC).
Using the Scoville scale gives ranges from Bell peppers with 0 Scoville heat units (SHU) to pure Resiniferatoxin with 16,000,000,000 SHU. Pure Capsaicin is considered to be between 15,000,000 and 16,000,000 SHU.
How RPMC stacks up.
So how does Reed Pacific’s Microencapsulated Capsaicin rank on the Scoville scale? The capsaicin oleoresin used in the microcapsules is 6.5% capsaicin which brings its SHU from 16,000,000 to 1,040,000.
Ten to twenty times hotter than a birds eye chilli pepper and three to ten times hotter than Habanero Peppers, RPMC’s microcapsules can deliver heat comparable to Ghost peppers, once the hottest chili pepper in the world.
How it works?
The mechanism by which the capsaicin creates the sensation of heat only works on mammals. This makes it the perfect repellent for any feed that is going to birds or other animal groups. Mixing RPMC with bird feed will provide long lasting protection against mammals while having no effect on the birds.
The microcapsules are also capable of being mixed into polymers before extrusion or mixed into woven materials. These embedded microcapsules will provide protection against mammals from chewing through the material. Each bite will release a blast of 1,040,000SHU directly to the mouth of the mammal, detering any further biting.