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| Latin: |
Capsicum frutescens |
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| Origin: |
Chili pepper is the annual or perennial plant Capsicum annuum L., of the Solanaceae family. Chili pepper is extensively cultivated throughout the world but especially to tropical Asia and equatorial America for their edible, pungent fruits.
Chili peppers range from very hot to very mild. The smaller the hotter: the tiny rawits are hottest, but madam Janet is as hot as well. The seeds are always hotter than the pods.
Chili pepper has been found in prehistoric remains in Peru, was widely grown in Central and South America in pre-Columbian times. Chili seeds were carried to Spain in 1493 by Christopher Columbus, who discovered these hot and fragrant pods in his travels to the New World, from there spread rapidly throughout Europe.
The genus Capsicum comprises all the varied forms of fleshy-fruited chili peppers grown as herbaceous annuals--the red, green, and yellow chili peppers rich in vitamins A and C that are used in seasoning and as a vegetable food. Hot chilies, or hot peppers, used as relishes, pickled, or ground into a fine powder for use as spices, derive their pungency from the compound capsaicin, a substance characterized by acrid vapors and burning taste, that is located in the internal partitions of the fruit. First isolated in 1876, capsaicin stimulates gastric secretions and, if used in excess, causes inflammation.
In addition to the cherry (Cerasiforme group) and red cluster (Fasciculatum), these hot varieties, which are red when mature, include the tabasco (Conoides), which is commonly ground and mixed with vinegar to produce a hot sauce, and the long "hot" chili and cayenne (Longum), often called capsicums. Cayenne pepper, said to have originated in Cayenne in French Guiana, is one of the spices derived from these peppers and is produced in many parts of the world.
The mild bell or sweet peppers (Grossum) have larger, variously colored but generally bell-shaped, furrowed, puffy fruits that are used in salads and in cooked dishes. These varieties are harvested when bright green in color--before the appearance of red or yellow pigment--about 60-80 days after transplanting.
The term "pimiento," from the Spanish for "pepper," is applied to certain mild pepper varieties possessing distinctive flavor but lacking in pungency; these include the European paprikas, which include the paprika of commerce, a powdered red condiment that was known in Hungary by the late 16th century. "Pimiento," often pronounced the same as "pimento," should not be confused with the latter, which is all spice.
The chili pepper plant is usually cultivated as an annual, grows to about 1 m by 0.6 m. It is in flower from August to September. The flowers are hermaphrodite (have both male and female organs). The plant cannot grow in the shade. It requires a very warm sunny position and a fertile well-drained soil.
The plants are treated as tender summer annuals outside their native habitat. They are propagated by planting seed directly in the field or by transplanting seedlings started in greenhouses or hotbeds after six to ten weeks. Dried chili peppers are available all year long. Fresh chili peppers' availability varies according to the variety.
Also spelled as Chille Pepper or Chile Pepper, or called Chili, Mexican Chili, Pepper, Garden Pepper, Red Pepper, Sweet Pepper, Chili Pepper, Cayenne, Cayenne Pepper, Long Pepper, etc.
See also Food, Flavorings, Pepper; Prickly Ash; and Herbs, Herbs for Warming the Interior, Pepper. |
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| Properties: |
| Pungent in flavor, hot in nature, it is related to the channels of the heart, spleen and stomach. |
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| Functions: |
Warms the middle region, disperses coldness, helps appetite and digestion, dries dampness, induces perspiration.
The chilic ingredients contained in chili pepper stimulates appetite and is a stomachic when used in an appropriate amount. It is a very useful flavor. The species containing no chilic ingredients is a very rich source of vitamin C. It also yields some antibacterial effect.
Chili pepper has proved efficacious in dilating blood vessels and thus relieving chronic congestion of people addicted to drink. It is sometimes used as a tonic and is said to be unequalled in warding off disease (probably due to the high vitamin C content). |
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| Applications: |
1. To treat common cold:
Boil 3 pieces of chili, 10 pieces of Chinese prickly ash, 1 slice of ginger and a little salt. Drink the decoction and keep warm.
2. For cold abdominal pain and water diarrhoea:
1 g powdered chili wrapped with a sheet of skin from soybean curd. Swallow with warmed boiled water.
3. For baldness:
Immerse 10 g minced dry chili in liquor for 7 days. Wash the affected scalp with this lotion. |
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| Dosage and Administration: |
The chili pepper fruit can be consumed raw or cooked. Very hot and normally used as a flavoring. The fruit can be dried and ground into a powder for use as a flavoring.
The seeds and membranes in chili peppers contain most of the capsaicin, the compound that lends them their mouth-searing qualities. To reduce a chili's heat, remove its seeds and veins. Use caution in handling chilis: some, like the Scotch bonnet, habaneros, and rocatillos, are so hot that they can instantly irritate the skin on the hands, and can be excruciating if they come in contact with the eyes. Wear thin disposable surgical gloves while working with hot chilis, and don't touch your face until the gloves are removed.
Anaheim and poblano chilis have a tough skin that should be removed before cooking. Traditional recipes recommend broiling chilis until skins blacken, wrapping peppers in foil to cool, and then removing the skin.
The seed is dried, ground and used as a pepper.
The leaves can be consumed cooked as a potherb.
Chili peppers can be found in the produce section of health food stores, specialty markets, and supermarkets. Choose fresh chili peppers with deep, rich colors, avoiding those that look wrinkled or soft. Store them in plastic in the refrigerator for two to five days. Larger chili peppers and red ones are more perishable than small or green ones. |
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| Cautions on Use: |
Although no reports have been seen for this species, many plants in this family produce toxins in their leaves. The sap of the plant can cause the skin to blister.
Seeds of chili peppers can be toxic and should not be eaten. |
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| Reference Materials: |
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| Toxic or Side Effects: |
| Seeds of chili peppers can be toxic and should not be eaten. |
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| Modern Researches: |
Chili pepper contains capsaicin, capsicidins, capsanthin, fatty oil, essential oil (volatile oil), solasodine, solanidine, solanine and considerable amount of vitamin C. In a chopped, half cup (68 g) chile pepper, there are 14 calories, 0.6 g protein, 3.5 g carbohydrate, 0.1 g fat and 0.9 g fiber.
The fruits contain 0.1-1.5% capsaicin. This substance stimulates the circulation and alters temperature regulation. Applied to the skin it desensitizes nerve endings and so has been used as a local anaesthetic.
The strong, burning flavor of chili peppers is caused by the substance capsaicin. The pungency varies between species, depending on the amount of capsaicin that they contain.
Experiments have shown that capsaicin seems to be able to detoxify a wide range of chemical carcinogens which, if left free to roam the body, could set up mutations that lead to cancers. Scientists suggest that chilies in the diet could help in the management of cancer.
For self protection, the outer skin (bark) of many plants contains essential oil, which in turn has elements that serve as an immediate chemical defense against herbivores and pathogens. How? There is an element called hydroxynitrile glucoside in essential oil. This element will release toxic hydrogen cyanide by endogenous plant glucosidase upon tissue disruption (see Anne Vinther Morant, Kirsten Jorgensen, Charlotte Jorgensen, Suzanne Michelle Paquette, Raquel Sanchez-Perez, Birger Lindberg Moller, and Soren Bak, "beta-Glucosidases as Detonators of Plant Chemical Defense," Phytochemistry Vol. 69, Issue 9 (June 2008), pp. 1,795-1,813).
Glucosidase is a catalyzing enzyme that improves healthy functions of our body. It is a lipase that decomposes fat; it can also check inflammation and improve memory (see Mikako Sakurai, Masayuki Sekiguchi, Ko Zushida, Kazuyuki Yamada, Satoshi Nagamine, Tomohiro Kabuta and Keiji Wada, "Reduction in memory in passive avoidance learning, exploratory behaviour and synaptic plasticity in mice with a spontaneous deletion in the ubiquitin C-terminal hydrolase L1 gene," European Journal of Neuroscience Vol. 27, Issue 3 (February 2008), pp. 691-701).
The seed contains capsicidins. These are thought to have antibiotic properties.
According to Eating Your Way to Health, when appropriate quantity of chili is administered, it stimulates the membrane of digestive tract to secrete digestive juices and promote digestion. When the hot ingredient stimulates the taste buds in the tongue, through reflex action, blood pressure (mainly diastolic) rises, but no changes in pulse rate were observed.
When a paste containing chili powder, vaseline and millet wine, was applied topically to tender points on the waist and lower extremities, the pain in 1 case was cured, 25 cases alleviated, 23 markedly effective, the effective rate being 75.4 percent.
For frostbite, 200 cases were treated topically by washing with chili solution boiled for 3-5 minutes with 50-100 g tender wheat seedlings, once daily. All the cases but 4 were cured.
The dried fruit is a powerful local stimulant with no narcotic effect, it is most useful in atony of the intestines and stomach.
Used externally, it causes redness on the skin amd stimulates the circulation, aiding the removal of waste products and increasing the flow of nutrients to the tissues. It is applied as a poultice. It has also been powdered and placed inside socks as a traditional remedy for those prone to cold feet.
The fruit is also anti-haemorrhoidal, anti-rheumatic, antiseptic (preventing the growth of microorganisms), carminative (expelling gas from the alimentary canal so as to relieve colic or griping), diaphoretic (having the power to increase perspiration), digestive, sialagogue (promotes the flow of saliva) and stomachic. These pungent fruits are important in the tropics as gastrointestinal detoxicants and food preservatives. |
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