Chilli

Chilli is the fruit of plant belonging to Capsicum genus. Chilli is one of the most spices garnishing dishes.

Family : Solanaceae Genus : Capsicum

Species : Capsicum annum, Capsicum frutescens, Capsicum chinense

Chilli is fruit of plants belonging to Capsicum genus and Solanaceae family. Capsicum is derived from the Greek word "Kapsimo" meaning "to bite." When eaten, it gives a burning sensation.

Chilli originates from South America. In search of spices, Christopher Columbus set his journey from Portugal. However, Christopher Columbus landed in South America. He found that the origins of South America used chilli. Columbus named them as "peppers" because they were similar in taste as black peppers. After the discovery of the spice, chilli replaced black pepper as prime spices in the culinary.

When chili pepper was brought to Spain, Dieogo Alvarez Chanca, a Spanish physician found that chilli had medicinal value. Chilli was believed to cure disease and used as pain killers. From Spain, chilli spread to rest of Europe and soon spread to South Asian countries like India and China. Chilli was introduced to India by the Portuguese explorer, Vasco-da-Gama who landed in 20th May, 1498. Chilli was introduced in China and spread further to Japan. Soon chilli was accepted as important spice in the local cuisines.

Chilli is an indispensable spice used as basic ingredient in everyday cuisine all over the world. The chilli powder is made by crushing the dried chilli having chilli flakes and chilli pods. The chilli powder began to be used to different countries.

The pungency of the chill is measure in Scoville scale. The hotness of the chilli is because the capsaicin present actually in the inner membrane placenta of the chilli and not in the chilli pods and chilli flakes as commonly believed. Named after the scientist Wilbur Scoville, the Scoville scale measures the hotness of the chilli. The pure capsaicin is 16,000,000 Scoville units. The hot chilli Red Savina habanero has 580,000 Scoville units. The hottest chilli on the Earth is called "Naga Jolokia" found in Tezpur laboratory by the scientist. It is also called Bih Jolokia meaning "Bih-poison" "Jolokia-chili pepper". Tezpur Chilli is said to be 855.000 Scoville units of capsaicin.

There are many common species of chilli including bell peppers, paprika, jalapenos, scotch bonnets, rocoto peppers, aji peppers, habanaeros, cayenne, and tabasco peppers. Here are the different varieties of chilli belonging to the common of species:

• Capsicum annum
  Bell peppers, paprika, early, New Mexican, jalapenos, Cubanelle, Charleston hot cayenne, Fresno Chile, pimento, Bulgarian carrot chili, Peter pepper, ornamental piquin, tepin, Thai hot, and chiltepin.
• Capsicum frutenscens
  Cayenne and tabasco peppers -.
• Capsicum chinense
  Habaneros, Fatalii, and Scotch bonnets -
• Capsicum pubescens
  Rocoto peppers
• Capsicum baccatum
  Aji peppers

 

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