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There are about 23 species of chile peppers (genus Capsicum), but nearly all of the cultivated varieties belong to one of just four or five species. All of the peppers are perennial semi-woody sub-shrubs, although they usually are cultivated as annuals. They are mainly glabrous (without pubescence), much branched, 2-4 ft (0.6-1.2 m) tall, with alternate leaves and modest little flowers which give rise to colorful fruits (berries technically). Most Americans refer to peppers as "hot", or "sweet", but picky pepper people prefer "piquant" and "nonpiquant." Peppers that bite back are piquant - mild peppers are nonpiquant. "Hot" is a measure of temperature - a pepper is hot if it just came off the stove. "Sweet" is the flavor caused by sugar, not the opposite of hot. "Pungent" is a different sensation altogether - it's the piercing feeling you get in the nose from strong onions, horseradish or Chinese mustard. But we aren't going to completely buck tradition here; we use hot and piquant interchangeably. Thousands of years of selection have resulted in peppers with similar characteristics in each of the biological species, and those species can be difficult to differentiate. Capsicum baccatum is the only pepper species with distinct spots on the flower petals and with prominent teeth on the calyx. Most of the peppers grown and eaten in tropical and subtropical South America belong to this species. These are usually called aji or kellu-uchu when fresh, and cusqueno when dried. The plants have large leaves and can get more than 8' tall. Piquant and nonpiquant varieties are grown. Many of the aji cultivars will not flower until days have only 12 hours of daylight. Ajis are rarely found outside of South America. C. pubescens is the only pepper species with black seeds (all the others are straw colored). The stems and leaves are slightly fuzzy. This is the most distinctive of all the cultivated peppers. The fruits look like small apples and have very thick fleshy walls. They are extremely piquant. They are called rocoto in South America and manzano or caballo in Mexico. Rocotos do not flower until the days shorten to 12 hours of daylight, and they are rarely seen in the U.S., Europe or Asia. C. frutescens and C. chinense are quite difficult to distinguish, and many authorities lump them as one species, C. frutescens, which is characterized by having two or more purple or greenish white flowers at each node. This species includes some of the hottest of the peppers, but there also are some totally mild varieties, too. If both species are recognized, habanero, Scotch bonnet, rocotillo, squash pepper and datil would be classified as C. chinense and tabasco would be classified as C. frutescens.
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Usage
Capsaicin causes the brain to release endorphins, natural pain killers that promote a sense of well being. It has the effect of deadening pain receptors. Topical applications of capsaicin are prescribed for arthritis, phantom limb pain, tendonitis, sore muscles and shingles. Capsaicin mouth washes and nasal sprays are prescribed for toothache, bronchitis, asthma, and migraine headaches. The nasal sprays stop chronic runny noses and sneezing and reduce congestion. Capsaicin aids digestion and appetite, seems to lower blood sugar and cholesterol and reduces blood clotting. Capsaicin creams for topical application as pain relievers are available as over-the-counter drugs, but they are expensive. You can make your own by blending some habaneros, seeds and all, with mineral oil, then straining the concoction and mixing it over heat with beeswax or paraffin. Concentrated pepper sprays are used as defensive repellents by mail carriers and police. Organic gardeners use pepper sprays to protect crops from insect, rabbit and deer damage: Blend habaneros with some water and liquid dishwashing soap. Hot pepper powder keeps dogs, cats and squirrels away: Dry habaneros, then grind into powder. Concoctions of chile pepper are used to curtail thumb sucking and to facilitate weaning. Indians in Columbia use a snuff made from chile powder and ground coca leaves.
By the time Columbus arrived in the New World, Amerindians had been using chiles for more than 9000 years and growing their own for more than 5000 years. Unknown to Europeans and Asians until Columbus "discovered" it, the chile pepper soon replaced black pepper (Piper nigrum - a totally unrelated plant from India and the East Indies) as the world's most important and most used condiment. In fact 16th century Spanish merchants advocated use of the name "pimiento" for this new, cheaper spice, over the objections of Dutch traders who were importing the more expensive real thing. The natives that Columbus met on the Caribbean Islands called them aji. On the mainland, the Aztecs called them chilli, and most of the world still does today. In Mexico, though, they are now called chile, and in the U.S. they are called chile or chili or pepper. In the Far East, the English word for hot peppers is chilli or chilly and the peppers that aren't hot are called capsicums.
The nightshade family includes many other important vegetables, such as tomato (Lycopersicon lycopersicum); Irish potato (Solanum tuberosum); eggplant (S. melonga); and tomatillo (Physalis ixocarpa); and some poisonous ones such as tobacco (Nicotiana tabacum); and deadly nightshade (Solanum dulcamara).
Steve Christman 10/13/00; updated 04/24/03, 08/11/03, 11/25/03, 1/12/05
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