Chili pepper
Chili peppers, also spelled chile or chilli (from Classical Nahuatl chīlli [ˈt͡ʃiːlːi] ⓘ), are varieties of berry-fruit plants from the genus Capsicum, which are members of the nightshade family Solanaceae, cultivated for their pungency.
[6][2] Peru has the highest diversity of cultivated Capsicum; it is a center of diversification where varieties of all five domesticates were introduced, grown, and consumed in pre-Columbian times.
The Portuguese introduced them first to Africa and Arabia, and then to their colonies and trading posts in Asia, including Goa, Sri Lanka, and Malacca.
Around the same time, the Spanish also introduced chilies to the Philippines, where they spread to Melanesia, Micronesia, and other Pacific Islands via their monopoly of the Manila galleons.
The plants are small, 20 to 60 centimetres (7.9 to 23.6 in) depending on variety, making them suitable for growing in pots, greenhouses, or commercially in polytunnels.
[17] Harvested chilies may be used fresh, or dried, typically on the ground in hot countries, to make a variety of products.
A study suggests that by protecting against attack by a hemipteran bug, the risk of disease caused by a Fusarium fungus carried by the insects is reduced.
[38] As evidence, the study notes that peppers increased the quantity of capsaicin in proportion to the damage caused by fungi on the plant's seeds.
In Peru, Papa a la huancaina is a dish of potatoes in a sauce of fresh cheese and aji amarillo chilies.
[57] Goan vindaloo curry uses the extremely hot ghost pepper or bhut jolokia to create "perhaps [India's] hottest dish".
[58][59] Many Mexican dishes use chilies of different types, including the jalapeño, poblano, habanero, serrano, chipotle, ancho, pasilla, guajillo, de árbol, cascabel and mulato.
[64] Capsaicin, the pungent chemical in chili peppers, is used as an analgesic in topical ointments, nasal sprays, and dermal patches to relieve pain.
[65] A 2022 review of preliminary research indicated that regular consumption of chili peppers was associated with weak evidence for a lower risk of death from cardiovascular diseases and cancer.
[66] Capsaicin extracted from chilies is used in pepper sprays and some tear gas formulations as a chemical irritant, for use as less-lethal weapons for control of unruly individuals or crowds.
By planting a few rows of the fruit around valuable crops, farmers create a buffer zone through which the elephants are reluctant to pass.
They are bricks made of mixing dung and chili, and are burned, creating a noxious smoke that keeps hungry elephants out of farmers' fields.
[70] While pepper originally meant the genus Piper, not Capsicum, the Oxford English Dictionary and Merriam-Webster record both usages.
The volatile oil in chili peppers may cause skin irritation, requiring hand washing and care when touching the eyes or any sensitive body parts.
[79] Consuming hot peppers may cause stomach pain, hyperventilation, sweating, vomiting, and symptoms possibly requiring hospitalization.
[80] Unscrupulous traders have illegally added at least eight different synthetic dyes, including Auramine O, Chrysoidine, Sudan stains I to IV, Para red, and Rhodamine B to chili products.
[81] The 16th century Spanish missionary and naturalist José de Acosta noted the supposed aphrodisiac power of chilies, but wrote that they were harmful to people's spiritual health.
[82] In the 1970s, the government of Peru forbade prison inmates to consume chilies, their explanation being that these were "not appropriate for men forced to live a limited lifestyle.
