A number of vanilloids, most notably capsaicin, bind to the transient receptor potential vanilloid type 1 (TRPV1) receptor, an ion channel which naturally responds to noxious stimuli such as high temperatures and acidic pH.
[1] This action is responsible for the burning sensation experienced after eating spicy peppers.
Endogenously generated chemicals that trigger the TRPV1 channel of the vanilloids class are referred to as endovanilloids[2] including anandamide, 20-hydroxyeicosatetraenoic acid (20-HETE),[3] N-arachidonoyl dopamine (NADA) and N-oleoyl-dopamine (CID 5282106 from PubChem).
[4] Fatty acid amide hydrolase (FAAH), is a crucial enzyme for endovanilloid, and the N-acylethanolamines (NAEs), catabolism at TRPV1, and other cannabinoid receptors.
[5] Outside the food industry vanilloids such as nonivamide are used commercially in pepper spray formulations.