23 Nov 2011

Capsicum; Columbus Discovered Hot Peppers

Submitted by admin

The first written reference to capsicum pepper was made in 1493 by Dr. Chauca, the physician on Columbus's voyage. Dr. Chaua reported that the native islanders used a spice they called "agi" made from thse peppers.

A capsicum pepper's "personality" is determined by an alkaloid called capsaicin, an unusally powerful compound found in no other plant.
Hotness in peppers ranges from mildest bell peppers, with a zero score  to habeneros which rate 200,00 to 300,00 units on the Scoville scale. The Scoville scale was developed by a pharmacologist named Wilbur Scoville in 1912.