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chapter one
Introduction
(See color insert.) Colorful and diverse Capsicum spp.
1.1 Capsicum and its global economic importance
Capsicum, or chili, is a vegetable and spice that has global economic importance. Based on international trade values, chili is ranked as the world’s fifth most important vegetable. Two forms, fresh and dry chili, are categorized in global trade by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO). The average world chili production from 2012 to 2014 was approximately 31.5 million tons for fresh chili and 3.6 million tons for dry chili (Table 1.1; FAO 2017a). Although chili originated in South America, the world’s largest chili producers are in Asia, which contributes 68% of the total chili production in the world (Figure 1.1). China is the world’s largest fresh chili producer, with 15.8 million tons per annum—50% of global production. India is the largest dry chili producer, with 1.4 million tons per annum (Table 1.2). Total chili production values in 2014 were US$34 billion, of which 89% was from fresh produce (Figure 1.2).
Table 1.1 Average world fresh and dry chili production during 2012–2014
Source: Data from FAO, www.fao.org/faostat/en/#data/QC, 2017.
Table 1.2 The world’s top 10 producers of fresh and dry chili, average from 2012 to 2014
Source: Data from FAO, www.fao.org/faostat/en/#data/QC, 2017.
Figure 1.1 Average total fresh and dry chili production by region in 2012–2014. (Data from FAO, www.fao.org/faostat/en/#data/QC, 2017.)
Figure 1.2 Global fresh and dry chili production in 2012–2014. The quantity is expressed in millions of tons, and the value is in US$ billion. (Data from FAO, www.fao.org/faostat/en/#data/QC, 2017; www.fao.org/faostat/en/#data/QV), 2017).
1.2 Cultural importance
Capsicum has several common names, such as pepper, chili pepper, chili, chilli, chile, aji, and paprika, with pepper being the most widely used and accepted. This misleading name leads to the assumption that Capsicum is “pepper,” originally discovered on pepper hunts during the colonial period. However, the actual “pepper” belongs to the genus Piper of the Piperaceae family, which is unrelated to the Solanaceae of Capsicum. Consequently, in this book, the name pepper refers to the genus Piper and the name chili refers to Capsicum.
Chili has a long history that stretches back to the pre-Columbian era. Originating in South America, chili was introduced around the world after being discovered and became a favorite in all areas. Chili is not only economically important but also culturally significant. Chili has transformed the diets of the world and remains embedded in all regional cultures. Chili is the main ingredient in many national cuisines, such as Asian curry dishes, kimchi (Korean pickles), and a variety of chili pastes, sauces, and Mexican and African foods. It is not only limited to savory foods; sweets such as chocolate can also have a dash of chili added. Daily consumption of Capsicum spices per person in some countries has been reported as 2.5 g in India, 5 g in Thailand, 15 g in Saudi Arabia, and 20 g in Mexico (O’Neill et al. 2012).
1.3 Nutrition and benefits
1.3.1 Vitamins
Nutritionally, chili is rich in vitamins and minerals. The most prominent ones are vitamins A and C as well as folate, which is one of the B vitamins (Kantar et al. 2016). The contents of vitamin A, vitamin C, and folate were measured in around 100 chili cultivars representing various geographic regions of the world, and substantial variations were found. The results revealed that the range was 303–20,840 IU (international units)/100 g for vitamin A, 11.9–196 mg/100 g for vitamin C, and 10–265 μg/100 g for folate. The recommendations for daily consumption by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration are 5000 IU for vitamin A, 60 mg for vitamin C, and 400 μg for folate. Therefore, chili is an invaluable vegetable for the daily human diet.
1.3.2 Carotenoids
Carotenoids are beneficial health compounds that are found in red chili. Carotenoids are lipophilic yellow-orange-red pigments that can also be used as natural food color additives (Arimboor et al. 2015) and textile dyes (Kulkarni et al. 2011). Carotenoids have an anti...
