Naturally occurring in chili peppers, what chemical harvested from these vegetables was registered for use in the U.S. in 1962 as a pest repellant?

Capsaicin is a naturally-occurring chemical that gives chili peppers their spicy qualities. Interestingly enough, birds are unable to taste capsaicin so it's sometimes added to bird seed to keep squirrels away, but the birds eat it undeterred.

Asked by Tom Cohen · Last updated 5 years ago · 2.7K views