Hot peppers in the compost?

My wife bought mislabeled green bell peppers that turned out to be hot peppers. We've harvested as much of them as we think we'll need, but she wonders now whether putting the excess into the compost will be too hard on the pile? Anyone have any experience or thoughts on this before we add them to the mix?

 

No problem, they'll rot down like any other vegetation.

 

Bear with me- I'm relaying this all from my wife, who says I should have asked: will the high amounts of capsaicin (the HOT part) be a problem for the earthworms in the pile?

 

http://www.ehow.com/info_8167711_can-compost-worms-eat-peppers.html

 

woodschmoe, thanks very much for the quick response. I've told my wife and saved her the link.

 

Unlike mustard chemicals (isothiocyanates) which chemically attack any thiol groups in organic molecules, sensitivity to capsaicin has a spotty distribution across the animal kingdom. Earthworms may not be affected at all by peppers.
http://www.portablechefnyc.com/2009/12/12/when-i-compost-my-jalapenos-am-i-giving-worms-a-burny-poo/