Page 6 - Vol.37-No.9

CROP PROTECTION

FEELING HOT AND BOTHERED

BY THE COMPLEXITY OF

CAPSICUM PEPPER

concentrated in and around the seeds.
Those who eat chilli peppers can’t help
but notice that the part closest to the
seed is invariably the hottest part of
DR. TERRY MABBETT the fruit.

&KULVWRSKHU &ROXPEXV GLVFRYHUHG &RQIXVLRQ UHLJQV LQ WKH ODUJH QXP-
KRW FKLOOL FDSVLFXP GXULQJ D ÞIWHHQWK ber of different common names used
FHQWXU\ RFHDQ YR\DJH WR ÞQG D VKRUWHU to describe the fruit – bell peppers,
route from Europe to the Far East. Ow- 'HOLFDWH ÁRZHUV RI WKH 6FRWFK %RQQHW bird pepper, capsicum, cayenne, chile
(Congo) hot chilli pepper
ing to the fruits’ pungency he called SHSSHUV FKLOOL RU FKLOL SHSSHUV ÞQJHU
(Picture Dr Terry Mabbett)
WKHP oSHSSHUVp DIWHU EODFN SHSSHU peppers, green pepper, hot pepper,
extracted from berries of the Asian paprika, pimento, red peppers and
cies and varieties of single species
vine Piper nigrum (family Piperaceae). sweet peppers.
and which freely interbreed. Thus C.
This led to much confusion and it was Any selection of these names may
annuum includes the large, green and
a long time before it was realized that contain several different origins. Thus
bell-shaped sweet (mild) peppers, and
&ROXPEXVp SHSSHUV ZHUH IUXLWV RI WKH oEHOOp DQG oÞQJHUp UHIHU WR VKDSH oVZHHWp
the very small round or cone-shaped
plant genus Capsicum, and related to DQG oKRWp WR GHJUHH RI SXQJHQF\ DQG
KRW FKLOOL FDOOHG oELUGp RU oELUGpV H\Hp
Lycopersicon esculentum (tomato) and oFD\HQQHp DQG oSDSULNDp WR SURFHVVHG
peppers, with a huge intermediate
Solanum tuberosum (Irish potato) of the product and use. In the English speak-
spectrum of shapes, sizes, colours and
plant family Solanaceae. ing world pimento is used to describe
hotness (pungency).
the red pepper traditionally found in
Pods (fruit) produced by C. chin- stuffed olives, although pimento is sim-
ense are equally varied and wide- ply the general word used for peppers
ly produced, ranging from round, in Spain, where considerable quantities
spinning-top shaped, long or lan- of olives are produced and stuffed with
tern-shaped with colours of white, SHSSHU 3HSSHUV DUH FDOOHG oSRLYUHp
yellow, orange, red and brown when oODO PLUFKp DQG oVKDWWDp LQ UHVSHFWLYHO\
ripe. Capsicum frutescens produces tiny, French, Hindi and Arabic.
cone-shaped peppers borne in clusters
> &D\HQQH SRZGHU LV GULHG DQG
which are red when ripe. Like those
ground hot chilli pepper. In Spain and
of C. chinense WKH\ DUH oZLFNHGO\p KRW
Capsicum pepper seedlings well (DVWHUQ (XURSH VSHFLÞF W\SHV RI PLOG
on the way to sound establishment The Capsicum name game red peppers are dried and ground to
(Picture Dr Terry Mabbett)
PDNH SDSULND ZKLFK LV XVHG WR IODYRXU
The word chilli is Spanish in origin.
GLVKHV VXFK DV oJKRXODVKp WKH QDWLRQDO
Indeed in Spanish speaking countries
&RQIXVLRQ SHUVLVWHG DQG VWLOO GRHV dish of Hungary. Pickled pulp of hot
WKH ZRUG LV VSHOW oFKLOHp ZKLFK LV WKH
because in size, shape and colour FKLOOLHV LV XVHG WR PDNH KRW oWDEDVFRp
name of a South American country
they represent one of the most diverse sauce.]
&KLOH RQFH D 6SDQLVK FRORQ\ DQG LURQ-
groups of vegetables in the world. But,
LFDOO\ VKDSHG OLNH D ORQJ oFKLOOLp SHSSHU Asia is famous for its hot chilli pep-
with few exceptions, commercially
And just to confuse even more North pers, which are eaten raw with food
grown and traded peppers belong
$PHULFDQV VSHOO WKH ZRUG DV oFKLOLp and widely used to make hot and spicy
to only a handful of species includ-
ing Capsicum annuum, C. chinense and When used to describe a capsicum
C. frutescens. Capsicum annuum is the SHSSHU LQ WURSLFDO $VLD WKH ZRUG oFKLOOLp
largest, most diverse and economically traditionally implies that pods are hot
important species. It has an annual life and longer than wide. It was Europe
cycle, in direct contrast to C. chinense where the name was corrupted to
and C. frutescens, which are perennial oFKLOOLp DQG RULJLQDOO\ XVHG WR GHVFULEH
plants albeit relatively short-lived ones. meat dishes originating in Mexico, of-
ten cooked with beans and laced with
7KH EURDG VSHFWUXP RI &DSVLFXP
hot chilli pepper. Degree of hotness Red and Green bird’s eye
pepper phenotypes is due to wide hot chilli peppers
depends on the concentration of an
genetic variation between sub spe- (Picture Dr Terry Mabbett)
alkaloid called capsaicin, which is
4 Vol. 37 No. 9