Origin

Peppers were domesticated in Mexico. As early as 6000 years ago, red peppers were used in tropical South America as a spice to disguise the taste of bland or unpalatable food. An antioxidant, chili is also useful in preserving food. Chili peppers are called 'chile' in Mexico and Central America and 'aji' in South America and the West Indies. Columbus took peppers back to Europe where they rapidly became popular.

Hotness in peppers is determined by the amount of capsaicin present. Capsaicin, an acrid, volatile alkaloid and an ingredient in antidog, antibear, and antimugger sprays, is a general irritant that attacks any tissue it contacts. Some police departments even use these sprays to incapacitate violent suspects. This leads to the question of why many people love to eat 'hot' peppers. Eating chili releases neurotransmitters. These proteins cause the sensations of burning or pain. The body responds by increasing heart rate to increase metabolism and by increasing salivation. Endorphins are also produced by the body in response to capsaicin, which may account for the feeling of pleasure and well-being sought by 'chili-heads'.

Nutrition

One sweet bell pepper weighing 74g has 15 calories, 6 percent RDA of Vitamin A and 150 percent RDA Vitamin C. If the green peppers ripen on the plant long enough to color, both Vitamin A and Vitamin C content increase. One teaspoon of dried red pepper has 26 percent RDA of Vitamin A.

In the family Solanaceae, peppers are all Capsicum annuum, except tabasco pepper which is Capsicum frutescens.

Bell Types: Bell pepper fruit are large and elongated in shape. The fruit contains little or no capsaicin. They are sometimes referred to as 'sweet' peppers. Commercial bell peppers are harvested green, but if left on the bush, fruit will turn red. Specialty cultivars which ripen to yellow, orange, or purple as well as red have recently become popular because of the attractive, tender fruit. There is some field production of these colored peppers in California, but initially much of this was greenhouse-grown fruit air freighted in from the Netherlands.

The problem with field production is that the fruit must be left out long enough to color. During this time, in areas of high rainfall and humidity such as the southern United States, fruits are very susceptible to insects, disease, sunscald and fruit cracking.

Pimiento Types: Pimiento pepper fruit are red, sweet, round, and slightly pointed (2 inches x 4 inches). They are steam peeled, roasted, and canned or powdered and sold as sweet paprika.

Hot Types: Although bell pepper types dominate U.S. markets, the popularity of 'hot' types is rising rapidly, and has always been high in Latin America and Asia. Collectively, these hot types are sometimes referred to as 'chilis'. Shapes vary from the large Anaheim and Poblano types to the short, chunky Jalapeno, the small round Habanero, and finally the short, slim serrano and Thai types. Capsaicin content also varies. Generally, the large types are a relatively mild '3' on a scale of '10', while the small 'Habanero' and 'Scotch Bonnet' types are a fiery '10'. The medium-size 'Jalapeno' is a medium hot '5'. A description of some of the types of peppers and their relative hotness on the previous page. This should be viewed as an approximate guide, however, as peppers are not always named correctly, and hot and sweet cultivars often occur within a type. Even within a cultivar, cool weather and excess water and nitrogen increase sweetness, while stress adds pungency.

Climatic Requirements

Peppers are frost-intolerant warm-weather annuals that grow best at 70 to 80 degrees F temperatures. Peppers have less cold tolerance than tomatoes, although more than eggplants. Temperatures below 59 degrees F during ripening reduce capsaicin content and fruit will not set at night temperatures below 60 degrees F. Peppers have more drought tolerance in terms of plant survival than either tomatoes or eggplants, but will abort young fruit at high temperatures (> 80 degrees F day or 70 degrees F night) and low humidities even if adequate soil moisture is present.

Flowers must be pollinated within 24 to 30 hours of opening, so 1 to 2 days of hot, dry conditions can result in lower fruit set, especially on bell types. Flowers can also be lost at high temperatures.

Location of Production

The United States imported 21 percent of its bell peppers in 1989. In 1992, top states in sweet pepper acreage were California, Florida, Texas, New Jersey and North Carolina. In hot peppers top states were New Mexico, California, and Texas; and, for pimientos, Alabama, Tennessee, and Kentucky. Of the U.S. pepper acreage, 48.6 percent of the sweet pepper acreage, 17.5 percent of the hot pepper acreage and 65.2 percent of the pimiento acreage was in the Southern Region in 1992.

Sources: http://www.ncsu.edu/sustainable/profiles/c14peppe.html