Everything about Capsicum totally explained
Capsicum is a
genus of
plants from the nightshade family (
Solanaceae) native to the
Americas, where it was cultivated for thousands of years by the people of the tropical Americas, and is now cultivated worldwide. Some of the members of
Capsicum are used as
spices,
vegetables, and
medicines. The
fruit of
Capsicum plants have a variety of names depending on place and type. They are commonly called
chili pepper, capsicum, red or green pepper, or sweet pepper in
Britain, and typically just capsicum in
Australia and
Indian English. The large mild form is called
bell pepper in
the US. They are called paprika in some other countries (although
paprika can also refer to the powdered spice made from various capsicum fruit).
The original Mexican term,
chilli (now
chile in Spanish) came from
Nahuatl word
chilli or
xilli, referring to a huge
Capsicum variety cultivated at least since 3000 BC, according to remains found in pottery from
Puebla and
Oaxaca.
Capsaicin
most species of
Capsicum contains
capsaicin (methyl vanillyl nonenamide), a
lipophilic chemical that can produce a strong burning sensation in the mouth (and, if not properly digested, the
anus) of the unaccustomed eater. Most
mammals find this unpleasant; however, birds are unaffected. The secretion of capsaicin is an adaptation to protect the fruit from consumption by
mammals while the bright colors attract
birds that will spread the seeds. The amount of capsaicin in
Capsicums is highly variable and dependent on
genetics, giving almost all types of Capsicums varied amounts of perceived heat. The only
Capsicum without capsaicin is the
bell pepper, a
cultivar of
Capsicum annuum, which has a zero rating on the
Scoville scale.
Chili peppers are of great importance in
Native American medicine, and capsaicin is used in modern
Western medicine — mainly in
topical medications — as a
circulatory stimulant and
pain reliever.
Although
black pepper and
Sichuan pepper cause similar burning sensations, they're caused by different substances—
piperine and
alpha-hydroxy-sanshool, respectively.
Cuisine
Capsicum fruits and peppers can be eaten raw or cooked. Those used in cooking are generally varieties of the
C. annuum and
C. frutescens species, though a few others are used as well. They are suitable for stuffing with fillings such as cheese, meat or rice.
They are also frequently used both chopped and raw in salads, or cooked in stir-fries or other mixed dishes. They can be sliced into strips and fried, roasted whole or in pieces, or chopped and incorporated into salsas or other sauces.
They can be preserved by drying, pickling or freezing. Dried peppers may be reconstituted whole, or processed into flakes or powders. Pickled or marinated peppers are frequently added to sandwiches or salads. Extracts can be made and incorporated into hot sauces.
According to Richard Pankhurst,
C. frutescens (known as
barbaré) was so important to the
national cuisine of Ethiopia, at least as early as the 19th century, "that it was cultivated extensively in the warmer areas wherever the soil was suitable." Although it was grown in every province,
barbaré was especially extensive in
Yejju, "which supplied much of
Showa as well as other neighboring provinces." He singles out the upper
Golima river valley as being almost entirely devoted to the cultivation of this plant, where thousands of acres were devoted to the plant and it was harvested year round.
In
2005, a poll of 2,000 people revealed the capsicum pepper to be
Britain's 4th favourite culinary vegetable .
Species and varieties
Capsicum contains approximately 20-27 species, five of which are domesticated:
C. annuum,
C. baccatum,
C. chinense,
C. frutescens, and
C. pubescens . Phylogenetic relationships between species were investigated using biogeographical, morphological, chemosystematic, hybridization, and genetic Chemosystematic studies helped distinguish the difference between varieties and species. For example,
C. baccatum var.
baccatum had the same flavonoids as
C. baccatum var.
pendulum, which led researchers to believe that the two groups belonged to the same species. A study on capsaicin production in fruits of
C. chinense showed that capsaicinoids are produced only in the epidermal cells of the interlocular septa of pungent fruits, that blister formation only occurs as a result of capsaicinoid accumulation, and that pungency and blister formation are controlled by a single locus,
Pun1, for which there exist at least two recessive alleles that result in non-pungency of
C. chinense fruits.
The amount capsaicin in hot peppers varies very significantly between varieties, and is measured in
Scoville heat units (SHU).
Synonyms and common names
The name given to the Capsicum fruits varies between English-speaking countries.
In
Australia,
New Zealand and
India, heatless species are called "capsicums" while hot ones are called "chilli/chillies" (double L). Pepperoncini are also known as "sweet capsicum". The term "bell peppers" is rarely used, and then usually in reference to C. annuum and other varieties which have a bell-shape and are fairly hot, they're more usually called "bell chillies".
In the
United Kingdom and
Ireland, the heatless varieties are called "capsicums", "sweet peppers" or "peppers" (or "green peppers," "red peppers," etc) while the hot ones are "chilli/chillies" (double L) or "chilli peppers".
In the
United States and
Canada, the common heatless species is referred to as "bell peppers," "sweet peppers," "red/green/etc peppers," or simply "peppers", while the hot species are collectively called "chile/chiles," "chili/chilies," or "chili/chile peppers" (one L only), "hot peppers", or named as a specific variety (for example,
banana pepper). In many
midwestern regions of the United States the Sweet Bell Pepper is commonly called a
mango.
(External Link
) With the modern advent of fresh tropical fruit importers exposing a wider latitude of individuals to the tropical fruit variety of the mango, this usage is becoming archaic. However many menus still call a stuffed bell pepper a mango.
The name "pepper" came into use because the plants were hot in the same sense as the condiment
black pepper,
Piper nigrum. But there's no botanical relationship with this plant, nor with
Sichuan Pepper.
In
Polish there's different confusion. The term "
papryka" is used for all kinds of capsicum peppers (the sweet vegetable, and the hot spicy) as well as for dried and grind spice made from them (named
paprika in
US-English). Also fruit and spice can be attributed as "
papryka ostra" (hot pepper) or "
papryka słodka" (sweet pepper). The term "
pieprz" (pepper) instead means only grained or grind
black pepper (incl. its green, white, and red forms) but not capsicum.
Sometimes the hot capsicum spice is also called "
chilli" (what is actually improperly spelled).
In
Italy the sweet varieties are called "peperoni" and the hot varieties "peperoncini" (literally "small peppers"). In
France and
Canada, capsicum are called "poivron". In
German and
Dutch, confusingly, capsicum are called "
paprika".
In Spanish-speaking countries there are many different names for each variety and preparation. In
Mexico the term
chile is used for "hot peppers" while the heatless varieties are called
pimiento (the masculine form of the word for pepper which is
pimienta). Several other countries, such as
Chile, whose name is unrelated,
Perú, and
Argentina, use
ají. In
Spain, heatless varieties are called
pimiento and hot varieties
guindilla.
In Indian English, the word "capsicum" is used exclusively for Capsicum annuum. All other varieties of hot capsicum are called chilli. In northern
India and
Pakistan, Capsicum annuum is also commonly called "Shimla Mirch" in the native languages.
Shimla incidentally is a popular hill-station in India (and "Mirch" means chilli in local languages).
Pictures of capsicum cultivars
Image:Capsicum annuum.JPG|Capsicum annuum cultivars
Image:Capsicum1.jpg|A variety of coloured Capsicum
Image:Pepperoncini.jpg|Pepperoncini (C. annuum)
Image:Large Cayenne.jpg|Cayenne pepper (C. annuum)
Image:Compact orange pepper plants.jpg|Compact plant of orange Capsicum
Image:Habanero chile - fruits (aka).jpg|Habanero chili (C. chinense Jacquin)- plant with flower and fruit
Image:HotPeppersinMarket.jpg|Scotch bonnet (C. chinense) in a Caribbean market
Image:Scotch-bonnet.jpg|Scotch bonnet (C. chinense)
Image:Thai peppers.jpg|Thai peppers (C. Frutescens)
Image:Green chillies.jpg|Fresh Indian Green chillies in a Bangalore market
Image:African red devil peppers.jpg|Piri piri (C. frutescens 'African Devil')
Image:Naga Jolokia Peppers.jpg|Naga Jolokia pepper aka Bhut Jolokia (C. chinense x C. frutescens)
Further Information
Get more info on 'Capsicum'.
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