(Capsicum annuum)

crushed/whole/ground/blends

Quick Look

Indispensible in Mexican, Indonesian and Italian dishes. Dried powder adds zest and piquancy to soups, sauces, egg and meat dishes.

A valuable home remedy, with stimulant, blood-pressure regulating, digestive and anti-flatulence properties. Ground pods and a little soap in water is a useful insect-repellent for the garden.

A good digestive tonic, it also benefits the heart and the circulation. A mild but effective "pick-me-up". Cayenne is rich in Vitamin C and valuable antioxidants. Used by some herbalists to treat high blood pressure.

As a poultice, it can ease the pain of aches, rheumatism, arthritis, varicose veins and other inflammations.

It can also stimulate your appetite, and could be helpful in treating anorexia.

Used in treatment of colds, chills, bronchitis and coughs--it can literally help you "sweat" it out.

Can be used as a gargle to treat sore throat and hoarseness.

Reduces nausea from sea sickness.

Flavor Improvement

Growing popularity of ethnic foods, especially spicy foods, has had a major impact on chili usage. The trend for reduce-fat food has also contributed to the growth of using hot spices. Since both flavor and textures are affected when fat is removed from foods, spices can help compensate for flavor loss. As people consume more" heat", they need more to get the same sensation. As the population ages, they will be adding more spices to their food. The reason for this is that as aging occurs, physiologically the sense of taste changes and more spices are needed to get the same level of flavor that was tasted when being younger.

The Heat Factor

Heat units (H.U.) are a scale of heat or pungency. The higher the HU, the hotter it is. Chilis will vary in pungency between fields and even between fruits on the same plant, therefore the HU numbers are approximate for a particular chili variety. Chilis can be irritating to the skin and eyes, so use caution when handling. 

The hotness of chili peppers is often measured on a scale devised by pharmacist Wilbur Scoville in 1912. Sweet bell peppers have zero Scoville units, jalapenos measure about 5,000 and fiery Habanero a whopping 250,000 to 300,000. Capsaicin, the pungent principle of chili peppers (Capsicum), has been shown to produce health benefits. The capsaicinoids represent a group of natural products that are vanillylamides of monocarboxylic acids of varying chain lengths from C-8 to C-11 and of varying degrees of unsaturation. Capsaicinoids are found in extracts of the fruit (peppers) of the Capsicum species, with high amounts being found in the well-known chili pepper. Capsaicin is the most widely-studied capsaicinoid.

Reduced Blood Clot Incidence

Long used as a food spice and an aid to digestion, red chilies or cayenne peppers were once thought to aggravate stomach ulcers. This fear has been discounted by researchers who became excited by studies that indicated that capsicum could help prevent the formation of dangerous blood clots. Now new research is focusing on this spices ability to act as an anti-inflammatory agent, and aid in controlling pain.

Researchers in Thailand first noticed that people who consume large amounts of red chili peppers experienced a lower incidence of thrombo-embolism, or potentially dangerous blood clots. Scientists then looked at the medical records of countries where hot spicy foods were regularly consumed, and found that people who eat a diet high in red peppers experience a much lower incidence of blood clotting diseases. Scientists have now concluded that capsicum does indeed possess fibrinolytic activity, meaning that it is able to break down blood clots.

Pain Relief

In addition to preventing the formation of blood clots, researchers have also discovered that a topically applied cream containing capsicum could help control some types of chronic skin pains. Now available in the form of a prescription drug, capsicum ointment is applied to the skin to aid in controlling the pain associated with herpes zoster, also known as shingles, as well as neuralgia and postoperative amputation trauma. The active ingredient in Capsicum is a compound called capsaicin that functions to deplete 'substance P', which is involved in the transmission of pain from the skin to the spinal cord. By blocking substance P, capsaicin acts as a dramatic and long-lasting anesthetic bringing relief to almost 75 percent of patients tested with the cream. It can take as long as three days from first application to begin to deplete substance P from the peripheral nerves. Taken internally to aid digestion, red peppers should be consumed slowly to avoid distress. Be careful to avoid getting Capsicum products in the eyes, as this can be extremely painful.

Reduced Cancer Death Rate

In the countries where diets are traditionally high in capsaicin, the cancer death rates for men and women are significantly lower than they are in countries with less chili pepper consumption (World Health Organization statistics). When capsaicin was administered to rats receiving carcinogenic agents, the incidence of certain tumors was decreased over controls. Capsaicin has been found to preferentially inhibit the growth of cancer cells in laboratory studies.
 

• Recommended Dosage

Capsule: One up to three times daily.
Tea: One cup daily. Apply a hot compress locally by pouring it on a towel.
Tincture: One teaspoon up to three times daily.
Grains: 5-20 in water
Topical: extract, usually contain 0.25-0.75% capsaicin.

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