IBD LIBRARY: INFO SHARING Benefits of Chilies

INTRODUCTION

Chilies is a fascinating vegetable and always be the king of spices. Chilies is a fruit plants from the genus , it’s belong to the same family as tomatoes and potatoes. Chilies come in many varieties, shapes, colours, sizes and pungent, but one thing they have in common is the burning sensation. Chilies pungency is measured by . The burning sensation is mainly caused by a chemical called , which is found in tiny glands in the chili’s placenta.

There are many interesting facts about chilies. Chilies have many beneficial values. As general belief Chilies is good for digestion and has been used ages in Indian Ayurvedic medicines to cure disease. On the other sides, Chilies also having a bad reputation, people often have experience burning mouth, sweating, runny nose, hard to breathe, and hiccups after taking chilies. There is a case in the US a man who tried to eat world's hottest Bhut jolokia burned out his throat and hospitalized. While in the UK a man suffered heart failure and died the morning after he ate the chilies. Despite that, people still wanted to spice up their food with chilly. Why? Because chilly having an addictive chemical. When eaten, the capsaicin present in the chilly will make the brain produce endorphins a natural painkiller.

Today most people from all part of the world enjoy eating this pungent spice. In spite of being an indispensable part in our life, few people knew about this pungent spice originated from. Chilies were used in variety of forms in foods like green chili sauce, salsas, red chili sauce, and paprika. Chilies have become a favorite

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As we know almost all Malaysian had a love affair story with chilies. Either the story is good or bad only god knows. Since then chilies has become a compulsory item into some of the dishes such as Sambal belacan, Asam pedas, Nasi lemak etc. Thanks to the Portuguese. Without the chilies most of our dishes will taste dull and something kick is missing. According to Agriculture and Agro-based Industry Minister Datuk Seri Ahmad Shabery Cheek he said “Malaysians consumed about 300,000 tonnes of chilies each year”.

HISTORY

Chilies are believed to be originated from Mexico since 7000 B.C. and were grown and cultivated from 3500 BC. Chilly was discovered by Christopher Columbus when he landed in the South America in 1493. He named them as "peppers" because they were similar in taste as black peppers. Christopher mistook chili as the black pepper. That is how the chili got the name ‘chili pepper.’ After the discovery of the spice, chili has replaced black pepper as prime spices in the culinary.

Long before being explored by Columbus, chili peppers played a huge role in the traditions of Mexico, especially in the ancient Aztec and Mayan cultures where spicy flavorful their cuisines. Mexicans love to spice up their food with chilies even today. They also used chilies for medicinal purposes and to fumigate their homes.

When chili pepper was brought back to Spain, Dieogo Alvarez Chanca, a Spanish physician found that chili had a medicinal value. Chili was believed to cure disease and used as pain killers. From Spain, chili spread to rest of Europe and soon spread to South Asian countries like India and China. Chili was introduced to India by the Portuguese explorer, Vasco da Gama in 1498. Chili was introduced in China and spread further to Japan. Soon chili was accepted as important spice in the local cuisines.

GENUS

Chilies are a fruit plants belonging to Capsicum genus and Solanaceae family. Chilies are closely related to their genetic cousins, the tomatoes, potatoes, and also the eggplant. Capsicum is derived from the Greek word "Kapsimo" meaning "to bite." When eaten, it gives a burning sensation. The heat of all chilies is concentrated in the inner ribs and

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seeds. There are more than 3,000 varieties of chilies available all over the world. They differ in pungency, size, shape and colors, while there are five species within the Capsicum (C.). Chilies come in many forms either in fresh, paste, powder, flakes and also dried. Dried chili peppers can be earthy, floral, fruity, hot, smoky or sweet.

Chili became extremely popular in India after it was first brought to India by Vasco da- Gama. Today, India has become the world’s largest chilies producer and exporter across the world such as USA, Canada, UK, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, Malaysia, Germany and many other countries. It contributes 25% of world’s total production of chili. Climate in India is suitable in cultivate varieties of chili. There are so many common species of chilies grown in India including bell peppers, paprika, jalapenos, scotch bonnets, rocoto peppers, aji peppers, habanaeros, cayenne, and tabasco peppers. The world’s hottest chili “Naga Jolokia” is cultivated in hilly terrain of Assam in a small town Tezpur, India. Some of the hottest chilies are also grown in India. Indian chilies have been dominating international chili market. Majority of chilies in India are cultivated in Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra, Karnataka, Gujarat, Tamil Nadu and Orissa.

GOODNESS

Since its introduction to India in 1498 by Vasco da Gama, chilies have been included in Indian traditional medical system ‘Ayurvedic’ and used as a tonic to ward off many of diseases. According to Ayurveda, chili has many medicinal properties such as stimulating good digestion and endorphins, a natural pain killer to relieve pains. Chilies are good for slimming down as it burns the calorie easily. Chilies stimulate the appetite, help to clear the lungs, and stimulate digestive system.

Chilies are excellent source of Vitamin, A, B, C and E with minerals like molybdenum, manganese, folate, potassium, thiamin, and copper. Chili contains seven times more vitamin C than orange. Some others chilies benefit that good for us are as below.

Capsaicin: Chilies contain powerful antioxidant called beta-carotenoids from vitamin C and Vitamin A. These antioxidants destroy free radical bodies that travel in the body and cause huge amounts of damage to cells. These radical bodies could damage nerve and blood vessel in diabetes.

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The antioxidants present in the chili will wipe out the radical bodies that could build up cholesterol causing major heart diseases such as atherosclerosis. Chilies have antioxidants that can destroy cholesterol which could cause major disease like atherosclerosis and other heart diseases. The antioxidants also help other disease like cataract and arthritis such as osteoarthritis and rheumatoid arthritis. It also dilates airway of lungs which reduces asthma and wheezing.

Detoxicants: Chilies act as detoxifiers as they remove waste products from our body and increases supply nutrients to the tissues. It also acts as gastrointestinal detoxicants helping in digestion of food.

Pain killer: Chilies stimulate the release of endorphins that are natural pain killers. It relieves pain caused due to shingles (Herpes Zoster), bursitis, diabetic neuropathy and muscle spasm in shoulders, and extremities. It also helps in relieving arthritic pains in the extremities.

Antibiotic: Chilies bring fresh blood to the site of the infection. The fresh blood fights infection. The white blood cells and leukocytes present in the fresh blood fights viruses.

Brain: Capsaicin stimulates brain to excrete endorphin and gives a sense of pleasure when ingested. This is the reason people get addicted to chili.

Cancer: It has been noted that vitamin C, beta-carotene and folic acid found in chili can reduces the risk of colon cancer. Chilies such as red pepper have cartonoid lycopene, which prevents cancer disease.

Heart Attack: Chilies have vitamin B6 and folic acid. The vitamin B reduces high homocysteine level. High homocysteine levels have been shown to cause damage to blood vessels and are associated with a greatly increased risk of heart attack and stroke. It also converts homocysteine into other molecules which is beneficial to lower cholesterol level.

Lung disease: Chilies give relief from nasal congestion by increasing the metabolism. It also dilates airway of lungs which reduces asthma and wheezing. It relieves chronic congestion in people who are heavy drinkers.

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Cigarette smoke contains benzopyrene which destroys the vitamin A in the body. The vitamin A present in chili reduces inflammation of lungs and emphysema caused due to cigarette smoking.

CONCLUSION From west to the east chilies has flavored most of our life. In general chilies have a lot of benefits to our health however excessive intake can bring side effects to our digestive system and bowel problem. Be sides of using as flavoring in our dishes and having medicinal value chilies also works as a natural insect repellent.

SOURCE @

Borneo Post Online (2016, January 23). Government to study why imported chilies cheaper. Retrieved from http://www.theborneopost.com/2016/01/23/government-to-study-why- imported-chillies-cheaper/

Mosley, M. (2017, 10 March). Why hot chillies might be good for us. Retrieved from http://www.bbc.com/news/health-39217603

Ramdev food (2017). Benefits of chilies. Retrieved from http://www.chilly.in/chili_benefits.htm

Villa Palmar Cancun (2017, June 4). History of chilies in Mexico. Retrieved from http://www.villapalmarcancun.com/blog/dining/history-chilies-mexico

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