Red Hot Chili Peppers Essay -- Botany

Red Hot chile PeppersA passion for foods from the American Southwest is sweeping through the country. The briny component and most popular period of this fad is the jalapeno pepper, an item of tremendous variability and a staple of many people in Central America. In this country, chili peppers were once nevertheless raise in specialized ethnic stores, but now it is just as potential to be found at the neighborhood Kroger. For most people, however, their knowledge cabbage here. Through this paper I hope to educate the reader on nigh other aspects of this intriguing vegetable, such(prenominal) as its history, chemistry, and uses. There is some confusion over what a chili pepper is. To many it is only the hot varieties of pepper, such as the jalapeno or the serrano. Others include the milder varieties, such as the bell pepper. Websters Encyclopedic Unabridged Dictionary of the English actors line defines a chili pepper as ... the pod of any species of capsicum, esp. white pepper frutescens. In this paper, the term chili pepper will be employ to describe both the hot and mild varieties. When asked to name the source of chili peppers, most people would name Mexico. However, despite the plants popularity in that country, it is believed that chili peppers originated in South America, after which it spread to Central America. Pepper remains found in Tehuacan, Mexico, were dated to approximately 7000 B.C., showing that chili peppers were established commodious before Columbus arrived. In fact, chili peppers were among the first plants to be domesticated, overdue to its weedy nature and the easy transportability of its seeds (Andrews 1984). When Columbus arrived in the New World, he mistook the chili peppers for a relative of black pepper, Piper nigrum, which is why ... ... mankind. whole caboodle Cited Andrews, Jean. Pepppers. Austin University of Texas Press, 1984. Creasy, Rosalind. Chiles for Flavor. Organic Gardening Mar. 1990 32-36. Johnson, Jon R, and C harles D. Johnson. Two Zesty Alternatives to Bell Peppers. vegetable Grower May 1992 24-27. Metabolism and Toxicity of Capsaicin. Nutritional Reviews 44.1 (1986) 20-22. Proulx, E.A. Some kindred Them Hot. Horticulture Jan. 1985 46-53. Robbins, Jim. It Feels Like Your Lips Are Going to Fall Off. Smithsonian Jan 1992 42-51. Rowland, B.J., B. Villalon, and E.E. Burns. Capsaicin Production in saintly Bell and Pungent Jalapeno Peppers. Journal of Agriculture and Food alchemy 31 (1983) 484-487. Smith, Paul G, Benigno Villalon, and Philip L. Villa. Horticultural Classification of Peppers Grown in the unite States. Hortscience 22 (1987) 11-13.