Epic Quest Bio The case files
Case No. 77 · have you seen this molecule?

Capsanthin

the red in paprika

File sealed

The detectives are still writing this one up. The poster and the facts are below; the film and the interrogation room open soon.

Booking photographs

Capsanthin, front view, against a height chart in nanometers
FRONT
Capsanthin, side view
SIDE · CID 5281228

The suspect, from its real atomic coordinates. Drag to turn it. Height chart in nanometers, ruled every 0.1 nm. A red bell pepper is about thirty million times taller.

Rap sheet

Answers to
Capsanthin. Often mistaken for capsaicin.
Height
3.0 nm, standing up straight.
Weight
0.97 zeptograms
Build
Long and thin. A six-sided ring at one end, a rarer five-sided one at the other.
Marks
Ten double bonds in a row, then a ketone. Together they make the red.
Taste
Not hot. The heat in peppers is capsaicin, someone else entirely.
Associates
Red peppers. Also tiger lilies, and hardly anyone else.
Weakness
Yellow peppers don’t make it. Blame one gene.
Last seen
A 5 mL tube marked PAPRIKA in the fridge at HQ.
3,400,000,000,000,000,000

of them in a teaspoon of paprika, give or take.
Paprikas vary. You’ve never seen one.

The poster on the street

The wanted poster for Capsanthin

This is the photocopied wanted poster for Capsanthin, No. 77. They were made for noticeboards around Boston, Cambridge and the rest of the east coast.

Found one? Scan its QR code with your phone. If you're a signed-in player, the sighting goes on your record with +1 XP.

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