Chile (Capsicum annuum)

Chile (Capsicum annuum)
N omb res comu n es: Cu'ucuri, Gu'ucuri (Cora) / Itz (Huasteco) / Cucú-rite (Huichol) / Chak-ik, Ch'uhuk-ik,
I'k, Max, Yaax-ik, Chile max (Maya) / Dya-ah (Mixteco) / Aji, Axi, Bolol, Chicpotle, Chile amash, Chile ancho,
Chile chiapas, Chile de árbol, Chile de chocolate, Chile morita, Chile mulato, Chile pico de paloma,
Chile piquín, Chile poblano, Chile serrano, Chile valenciano, Chile verde, Chilpocle, Chipilín, Cuachile,
Nigüi, Pico de pájaro, Tempechile, Xubala, Chile tampiqueño, Chiltepín, Chile huachinango, Stilampin,
Stilanpin, Chiltecpin, Pimiento morrón, Maax, Aj max iik, Chawal iik (ND) / Chil, Chilpitza (Náhuatl) /
Bumi, Juñi, Ñi, Nguisa (Otomí) / Cahuasa, Cauas, C'auasi ts'irápsi, Cauasi turípiti, Causi córata charápiti
(Tarasco ) / Acxispin (Tepehua) / Cancol (Tepehuano ) / Pin, Scumpi'n', Stakna', Akgtsispin (Totonaco) / Ich
(Tseltal ) / Guiná, Guiña (Zapoteco)
Si n ón i mos: Capsicum petenense
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Taxon biology 1
Capsicum annuum, bell, sweet, or chili pepper—with cultivated varieties including bell, sweet, chili, and
paprika peppers—is a perennial herbaceous plants in the Solanaceae (nightshade family), which
originated in Central and South America and the Caribbean and was domesticated over 5,000 years ago.
Peppers from C. annuum have been developed into numerous varieties that are now cultivated around
the world for sweet and hot varieties of green and red bell peppers and chili peppers, that are one of
the world’s most widely used spices, with dried forms including paprika, chili powder, and cayenne.
Capsicum annuum, which is perennial but often cultivated as an annual in temperate climates, is a
many-branched plant, growing up to 75 cm (30 in) in cultivated varieties, often shrubby in appearance.
The leaves are simple and alternate, elliptical to lanceolate, with smooth margins (entire). The small
flowers (around 1.5 cm, or 1 in, in diameter), re borne singly or, rarely, in pairs in the axils (where leaves
join stems); they are white or occasionally purple, campanulate (bell-shaped), often with 5 lobes, and
contain 5 bluish stamens. The fruits are many-seeded berries--pod-like, but with no sutures—that vary
considerably in size and shape, ripening to green, yellow, orange, red, or purple.
The numerous varieties that have been developed are categorized in five major groups: 1) Cerasiforme
(cherry peppers); 2) Conoides (cone peppers); 3) Fasciculatum (red cone peppers); 4) Grossum (bell or
sweet peppers); and 5) Longum (chili or cayenne peppers). These varieties include well-known Mexican
peppers such as jalapeños, serranos, and poblanos. However, some pepper varieties known as chili and
cayenne peppers come from the closely related species, C. frutescens, including the Tabasco varieties
used in Tabasco sauce, and the intensely spicy Habanero peppers.
Peppers are used fresh, cooked, or dried in an enormous variety of dishes characteristic of different
regional cuisines. They are high in vitamins A and C. Some varieties have been developed to use as
ornamentals, often for indoor pots; these often have small, brightly-colored, persistent fruits.
Capsaicin, which is obtained from C. annuum and other Capsicum species, is an intense skin and eye
irritant, and is the ingredient used in pepper sprays sold for self-defense. However, it also has
numerous medical uses, including topical pain relief for muscle soreness, shingles, skin irritations, and
rheumatism, and as an anti-inflammatory. Recent medical research has also documented antimicrobial
and antifungal activity of capsaicin obtained from several Capsicum species, and on-going studies are
exploring its use in cancer treatment.
Although known as pepper, Capsicum annuum is not closely related to the spice known as black pepper
(Piper nigrum, in the Piperaceae), which was prominent in the spice trade of the Middle Ages, and for
which Christopher Columbus may have been searching when he brought Capsicum annuum to Europe
and referred to it by the same common name.
(Bailey et al. 1976, Chowdhury et al. 1996, Cichewicza and Thorpe 1996, Hedrick 1919, van Wyk 2005,
Wikipedia 2012.)
Description 2,3
Much-branched annual or short-lived perennial herb, up to 1.5 m tall, widely cultivated for its edible
fruits. Leaves ovate to narrowly lanceolate, 2.5-10 cm long, dark green, thinly textured to somewhat
leathery, hairless except for scattered hairs in the axils of veins below; margin more or less entire, wavy.
Flowers mostly solitary, white to greenish or bluish-white, drooping. Fruit very variable in shape, size,
colour and taste.
Miscellaneous details 4
"Notes: Plains to Mid Altitude, Cultivated, Native of Tropical America"
Worldwide distribution 2,3
Widely grown cultivars originating from South America.
Description 5,6
Herb up to 1 m tall. Leaves oblong-ovate or broadly so; acute to acuminate. Flowers solitary, dull white,
nodding after anthesis.
Diagnostic 4
Habit: Herb
Habitat & distribution 7,8
Widely cultivated in China [native to Mexico and South America, widely cultivated and naturalized
throughout the world]
Associations 9
Foodplant / gall
Aceria kuko causes gall of live leaf of Capsicum annuum
Foodplant / parasite
Aculops lycopersici parasitises leaf of Capsicum annuum
Foodplant / parasite
sporangium of Peronospora tabacina parasitises live Capsicum annuum
In Great Britain and/or Ireland:
Foodplant / spot causer
Tomato Spotted Wilt virus causes spots on ring-spotted, unevenly ripening fruit of Capsicum annuum
Frequency 10,3
Rare as an escape
Chemistry 11,12
Contains the alkaloids capsaecine, solanidine and solasodine.
National nature serve conservation status 13
United States
R ou n d ed N ati on al Statu s R an k : N5 - Secure
Use 11,12
Fruit: Boiled as a curare admixture by the Surinam Tirio of Tepoe, Guyana Arawak and Macushi (and
Brazil Tirio). Used as a remedy for serious indigestion due to alcohol consumption. Powerful stimulant;
combined with quinine for intermittent fevers. Used in a gargle to remedy mouth sores. An extract is
used to treat the first appearance of hemorrhoids.
Economic uses 13
Uses : Fruit, Spice/herb/condiment, MEDICINE/DRUG
Commen ts : A common pepper of Mexican origin.
Common names 11,12
French Guiana: piment. Surinam Kaxuyana: ah-se-se. Surinam Sranan: pepra, pepre. Surinam Tirio:
pom-we. Surinam Tirio of Tepoe: pom-wa.
Taxonomy 13
Commen ts : For North America and the U.S. Caribbean, Kartesz (1999) recognizes two varieties of
Capsicum annuum, with var. annuum present in this range only as an exotic, and var. glabriusculum
present as a native (although an exotic in portions of its range). Two other varieties have sometimes
been recognized: var. aviculare is included by Kartesz in his var. glabriusculum, and var. frutescens is
included by him in his var. annuum. LEM 17Jan00.
References
1. © Jacqueline Courteau, some rights reserved
2. Hyde, M.A., Wursten, B.T. and Ballings, P. (2002-2014). Capsicum annuum L.
var. annuum Flora of Zimbabwe website. Accessed 28 August 2014 at
http://www.zimbabweflora.co.zw/speciesdata/species.php?species_id=165480
3. © Mark Hyde, Bart Wursten and Petra Ballings, some rights reserved
4. © India Biodiversity Portal, some rights reserved
5. Flora of Pakistan Vol. 0: 23 in eFloras.org, Missouri Botanical Garden. Accessed Nov 12, 2008.
6. © Missouri Botanical Garden, 4344 Shaw Boulevard, St. Louis, MO, 63110 USA, some rights
reserved
7. Flora of China Vol. 17: 313 in eFloras.org, Missouri Botanical Garden. Accessed Nov 12, 2008.
8. © Missouri Botanical Garden, 4344 Shaw Boulevard, St. Louis, MO, 63110 USA, some rights
reserved
9. © BioImages, some rights reserved
10. Hyde, M.A., Wursten, B.T. and Ballings, P. (2002-2014). Capsicum annuum L.
var. annuum Flora of Zimbabwe website. Accessed 28 August 2014 at
http://www.zimbabweflora.co.zw/speciesdata/species.php?species_id=165480
11. Medicinal Plants Of The Guianas ( Guyana, Surinam, French Guiana) By Robert A. Defilipps, Shirley
L. Maina And Juliette Crepin; Online At The Biological Biodiversity Of The Guiana Shield.
Smithsonian Natural Museum Of Natural History 2004
http://botany.si.edu/bdg/medicinal/index.html
12. © Smithsonian Institution, some rights reserved
13. © NatureServe, some rights reserved