pungent

adj. spicy, piquant, sharp (of flavor, odor, etc.); biting, caustic, sarcastic; clever, witty

Pungency is a sharp and biting sensory impression. Regarding chili peppers, it refers to a scientific equivalent of the Scoville scale of measuring spicyness.
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Adjective
1. sharp biting or acrid especially in taste or smell; "tasting the pungent wood sorrel"; "pungent curry"; "a pungent smell of burning sulfur"
(antonym) bland
(similar) acrid
(see-also) tasteful
2. capable of wounding; "a barbed compliment"; "a biting aphorism"; "pungent satire"
(synonym) barbed, biting, nipping, mordacious
(similar) sarcastic

(v. t.)
Sharply painful; penetrating; poignant; severe; caustic; stinging.
  

(v. t.)
Prickly-pointed; hard and sharp.
  

(v. t.)
Causing a sharp sensation, as of the taste, smell, or feelings; pricking; biting; acrid; as, a pungent spice.
  

Synonyms and related words:
Attic, acerb, acerbate, acerbic, acescent, acid, acrid, acrimonious, acute, afflictive, agonizing, amaroidal, aphoristic, aromatic, asperous, astringent, atrocious, axiomatic, barbed, biting, bitter, bitter as gall, brilliant, caustic, clever, coarse, consuming, crab, crabbed, cramping, crisp, cruel, cutting, deafening, distressing, droll, dry, epigrammatic, escharotic, exciting, excruciating, facetious, flavorful, formulaic, formulistic, funny, gnawing, gnomic, grave, green, griping, hard, harrowing, harsh, hot, humorous, humorsome, hurtful, hurting, incisive, intense, irritating, jesting, jocose, jocular, joking, joky, joshing, keen, keen-witted, lively, loud, mordant, nimble-witted, nose-piercing, nose-tickling, oppressive, painful, paroxysmal, penetrating, peppery, peppy, pickled, piercing, piquant, pithy, platitudinous, poignant, pointed, proverbial, provocative, quick-witted, racking, racy, rapier-like, reeking, rich, rough, salt, salty, sapid, sarcastic, scathing, scintillating, seasoned, sec, sententious, severe, sharp, shooting, smart, snappy, sour, sour as vinegar, soured, sourish, sparkling, spasmatic, spasmic, spasmodic, spicy, spirited, sprightly, stabbing, stern, stimulating, stinging, strong, strong-scented, strong-smelling, succinct, suffocating, tangy, tart, tartish, tasty, terse, thundering, tormenting, torturous, trenchant, uninteresting, unripe, unsweet, unsweetened, upsetting, vinegarish, vinegary, vitriolic, vivacious, whimsical, witty, zesty