A few years ago, Assoc Prof Werasak Surareungchai questioned the spiciness of his lunch while tucking into somtam, or spicy papaya salad, with his colleagues.
He wondered why the spiciness of the three dishes of somtam differed although they were made of the same ingredients, with the same amount of chilli in each.
That inspired him to work for nearly two years on a device to measure the spiciness of food that would improve the quality control of Thai food exports, which are worth more than 900 billion baht a year.
His spiciness indicator is called the Capsella, which measures the level of capsaicin, a natural substance that creates hotness and spiciness in chilli. The more capsaicin, the more hot and spicy the dish.
The light-weight plastic box, which measures about 20 by 30 centimetres, contains a sensor that measures the spiciness of food.
"I am pleased that my innovation can help assure and standardise the taste of Thai food exports, especially for SMEs that lack the capital to import expensive food-testing equipment," says Assoc Prof Werasak.
Prior to his invention, most Thai food companies and exporting firms had to rely on the human palate, meaning the results were subjective and variable.
Only a few major food companies could afford imported equipment to measure the spiciness of their products. Such equipment costs up to 2-3 million baht and the companies need to send their staff to be trained to use it effectively.
On the other hand, the Capsella costs 300,000 baht, about 10 times less than imported equipment, meaning more food producers, especially SMEs, can afford the equipment to help them standardise the quality of their products.
"It's easy to use. You just dissolve a small portion of food with alcohol and drop it on to the sensor, which produces the results shortly," says Assoc Prof Werasak.
He said the Agricultural Research Development Agency has agreed to cooperate with him to make the equipment commercially available.
His invention won a silver medal at last year's Seoul International Invention Fair.
The Capsella has been launched commercially and sold to several major food companies, including Theppadungporn Coconut Co, which produces more than 200 items for both domestic and international markets, including Mae Ploy brand chilli paste.
Wanlop Benjachokchai, manager of the company's quality assurance department, says the equipment helps standardise the spiciness of their food and prevents product returns, when customers find the food too spicy or not spicy enough.
"It's easy to use and more accurate compared to the human palate," says Mr Wanlop.
He says the spiciness-measuring machine had helped reduce the number of product returns substantially in recent years.
"We use it to measure our finished product, but we also use it to measure our raw materials, which are mostly several types of chilli, the spiciness of which varies according to its origin," he says.