How chillies are biologically classified

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Chilli varieties from A to Z. Biological classification

No listing of Chillies from A to Z would be complete unless more information was given regarding their biological classification. Having an idea of how they are classified makes the subject even more intriguing, and fills in missing pieces.

All Chillies belong to the Solanaceae family. Solanaceae includes other vegetables like eggplants, tomatoes, potatoes, tomatillos, and goji berries. From this broad classification, they are broken down into the Genus Capsicum L -pepper. According to Wikipedia, it is believed that the name Capsicum may have originated from the Latin "capsa", which means to box (perhaps referring to the shape of the pods). Another possibility is that the name is derived from the Greek "kapto", which means "to gulp." The reference to pepper is thought to refer to the similarity in pungency that this Genus has with black pepper (Piper nigrum ). There is, course, no biological connection between black pepper (or Sichuan pepper) for that matter) and this Genus.

From here, things start becoming more specific. Capsicum is broken down into the particular species that the Chillies fall under. While there may be as many as thirty species, many of these grow only in the wild.  Five species have been domesticated and are more well-known

Domesticated Chilli species
Capsicum annuum

It gets its name from "annual ", which implies that a plant only has one season from seed and then dies. This is, in fact, not the case.  If not subjected to very cold conditions, these plants can survive for many seasons and turn into large perennial bushes.

Capsicum annuum includes Chillies like Bell peppers, Jalapenos, Poblanos, Cayenne, Hidalgo, Hungarian Hot wax, Chiltepin, Serrano, Paprika, Anaheim, Ancho, Banana pepper, Chile de árbol, Thai birds-eye  and many more.

The Scoville rating for this species starts at the very bottom, with Bell peppers having a SHU of zero.  Mild Chillies like Cubanelles, Poblanos, Anaheims and Jalapenos rank below 8000 SHU.  The medium heat C annuums like Cayennes and Serranos have a heat rating of between 10000 and 50000 SHU. One of the hottest is the Thai birds-eye, with a Schoville heat rating of about 100000 SHU. Their flower corollas are typically white. A few varieties have purple flowers.

These Chillies are used in various dishes, including stuffed peppers, pickled Chillies, curry, moles, spicy stews, and many hot sauces.

Capsicum baccatum

The name means "berry-like", which generally describes the shape of Chillies that come from this species. It has its origins in an area (Peru and the Andean region of South America) hypothesised to be the birthplace of the first Chillies in this world. Aji Chillies, which generally come from this species, have been consumed in this region for thousands of years.

Chillies that fall into this species include Aji Amarillo (Peru's most popular Chilli),  Aji Limone ( also known as the lemon drop Chilli), Pitanga ( starfish Chilli of Brazil), Bishops Crown, Aji Andean,  Aji Ayucullo (Peru), Aji Benito (Bolivia), Aji Catatenango ( El Salvador),  Aji Brown (Peru) and the White wax Chilli 

The Scoville rating for this species of Chilli tends to range between 30000 and 50000 SHU, with certain exceptions.  One exception to this is the  Sweet piquanté pepper from South Africa with a SHU of 1177. The Aji Amarillo falls in the 30000 to 50000 SHU category, as does the Aji Limone.  The flowers petals  (corollas) are coloured between white to cream. Their corollas have dark green, yellow or brown spots at the base. This species is probably the easiest to identify by this trait

In cooking, B baccatum is used in ceviche (Aji Amarillo and Aji Limone), grilled chicken (Aji Amarillo)fish stews (Dedo De Moca in Brazil) and many other dishes.  The Aji Amarillo, by far the chefs choice in Peru, is used to make dishes like Pollo a la Brasa with Aji Verde , Cau Cau, Causa and Papas ala Huancaina (layered potatoes with a creamy spicy sauce).

Capsicum_chinense

The naming of this species came from the mistaken belief of a Dutch botanist that it originated in China. He came to this conclusion of noticing how extensively it was used in Chinese Cuisine. In fact, it was introduced to China by European explorers. Chinense is a very hot species of Chilli that has its origins in the Andean region. It is known as a Habanero type Chilli and includes.

Scotch bonnets, Adjumas & Madame Jeanette's (from Suriname), 7 pot cultivars, Trinidad Scorpions, Bhut Jolokia (Ghost peppers), Datils (from Florida) and Fatalli (from South central Africa)

The Scoville rating of these chillies is more than 100000 SHU. The Carolina Reaper , which is officially the hottest Chilli in the world, is a cultivar of this species. It is a cross between the a Soufriere pepper from the Carribean and the Naga viper Chilli from Pakistan. It rates a whopping 1,569,300 on average SHU on the Scoville rating scale. Less pungent cultivars like the Habenero and Scotch bonnet are in the 100000 to 350 000 SHU range. Certainly hot Chillies indeed! Their flower corollas (petals) are white. The anthers and filaments are purple.

These Chillies are typically used in dishes from the Caribbean, like Jamaican Jerk chicken, Mexican dishes like Salsas, and very hot   hot curries like Vindaloo and Phall (one of the hottest curries in the world).

Capsicum_frutescens

Frutescens means "Shrub Like". These pungent small Chillies that grow skyward facing are prized in China , Africa, Indonesia, Brazil, the Philippines and the USA for their fantastic flavour. They are commonly used to make hot sauces like Tabasco, Piri- Piri, etc. They have their origin in South America, but were widely distributed by the Portuguese around the world.

Chillies in this species include African devils, Malaguetas, Cabai Rawit, Siling labuyo, Xiaomila_pepper and Tabasco.

These Chillies are in the comfortable range for most Chilli Lovers. In common with Chillies, like the Cayenne, Thai birds eye (which is often mistakenly thought to belong to this species) and the Serrano from  Capsicum Annuum, these Chillies are widely used in everyday cuisine . They are in the 30000 to 175000 SHU range .  This makes them pungent, but pleasantly so .  African Devils have a SHU oF between 500000 and 175000 SHu.  Malaguetas are in the 60000 to 100000 SHU range, and the Siling labuyo  80000 to 100000 SHU . Tabasco chillies, which are used to make the sauce of the same name, have a  relatively mild SHU of between 30000 and 50000 SHU.

The flowers have green/ white corollas with no spots. They have purple anthers and filaments

Besides their use in hot sauces, this species is used to add flavour to many dishes and pungency to dishes like  Piri Piri Chicken ( Portugal, Brazil and Southern Africa, Moqueca de peixe com camarão ( Brazil),  Sambals (Indonesia),  Chilli vinegar ( Philippines) and a host of other dishes from around the world.

Capsicum pubescens

Chillies that have been used for thousands of years in the Andean region. Traces of its use go back more than 7000 years, with traces of its use found in the Guitarrero Cave. Its name means "hairy" in reference to the hairs in its leaves. In Peru and Ecuador, it is known as a Rocotto, Locoto in Bolivia and Argentina, and as the Manzano pepper (apple pepper) in Mexico.

Rocotos are very hot with a Scoville rating of between 100000 and 300000 SHU.  These are a variety of cultivars, including the brown rocoto, rocoto Canario ( yellow), Rocoto de Seda, Rocoto Largo san Isidro, Rocoto Roja (red), orange rocoto, and the white rocoto .  These cultivars come in various shapes, including resembling apples and pears. It is called a Manzano in Mexico because this means apple in Spanish. Their flowers are purple.

These Chillies are essential in Peruvian cooking and the most important ingredient in the Bolivian sauce Llajua. It is also used as an ingredient in ceviche and Rellenos. Its thick walls make it excellent for stuffing  Its flavour is described as being similar to a Bell pepper, with the juiciness of a tomato, but with a very pungent heat.  When cut in half, it actually even looks like a tomato with black seeds.

 

Final thoughts.

This post  on Chilli varieties from A to Z carries information on all the most known domesticated Chillies. Because many Chillies are covered , it is only possible to give an idea of where they are used in cooking. Their uses, of course, are far more comprehensive than that. There are hundreds of Chillies in these species, so there are probably a hundred ways to use them.

All these species have characteristics that help identify them. For a more in-depth look at these distinguishing characteristics, visit the Chili Pepper project website.

Image Credits

Maja Dumat / CC by 2.0/  via Flikr

Mark Levisay / CC BY 2.0 / via Flikr

Mark Levisay / CC BY 2.0/ via Flikr

manual m.v  / CC BY - SA2.0 /  via Flikr

Adam mckenna,  / CC BY-SA 3.0  /via Wikimedia Commons

The original uploader was JoeCarrasco at English Wikipedia./ CC BY-SA 3.0 / via Wikimedia Commons.

Daniel Risacher, / CC BY-SA 3.0,/ via Wikimedia Commons

The best Chillies to grow in the UK

Star performers

Based on my experience this Chilli growing season, I believe I have found some of the best Chillies to grow in the UK. I say this because as at this point in the season, I have some seedlings that are doing exceptionally well. Even though they were planted at roughly the same time as the other varieties, they are just streets ahead.

These Chillies – my Cherry Chilli and a Rocoto are so far ahead of the others; they are already in one-litre pots. My other top performers – another Cherry Chilli, three other Rocotos and three Madame Jeanettes , are still in two and three-inch pots. I expect to pot these seedlings on in the not-too-distant future.

My mega star performers, the Cherry Chilli and the tallest Rocoto, have already been potted on twice. Firstly, they were potted on into three-inch containers, after reaching two inches in height. Once they were three inches tall, they were transplanted into one-litre pots. They will now remain in these pots until they get hardened off. After that, they will be replotted into their final containers, where they will spend the rest of the season

Once seedlings are potted into one-litre pots, I start feeding them with a fertiliser higher in nitrogen. Before being potted- on into these larger containers, they would have been fed with Chilli Focus at a dilution of 2.5ml per litre of water. This is all the fertiliser they would have needed, as up to then, they would have absorbed nutrition from the potting soil in their containers.

However, now that these plants are in one-litre pots, it is essential that they get more fertilisation. So I feed them with a liquid fertiliser with an NPK of 7: 1.3: 4.2. It is a fertiliser with a high nitrogen content. I specifically use it to develop these plants’ foliage and general health until they get hardened off. After that, fertilisation will be changed again to achieve other objectives, like improved flower setting  and fruiting.

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Fast growing Chillies

Planning the season

One of the most important considerations when growing Chillies is how much time you have to grow them. By that, I don’t mean how much time you have to care for your Chillies, but rather, the amount of time that is left in the Chilli growing season once seeds have been started.  After germination, the plants will need to mature, set fruit, and for the pods to ripen before harvest. With a short growing season (particularly in countries like the United Kingdom), this can be challenging

After all, you can spend as much time as you like looking after your Chillies, but if they have been planted too late, that is another issue. It can create complications.

Nothing is more disheartening in growing Chillies than spending months caring for plants and then not being able to make a harvest. Last year, that happened to me. I left it too late to start my seeds, and before I knew it, I was facing a ripening problem. My plants had produced plenty of chillies, only I hadn’t allowed enough time for the fruit to ripen. The season was drawing to a close  and I had a lot of unripe fruit on my hands. If I had been more careful with the varieties I planted, I wouldn’t have needed to face this problem. Planting faster growing varieties would have meant they would have matured more quickly, set fruit earlier, and I would have had ample time for them to ripen and  make a harvest.

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Overwintering for 2022

What I am overwintering

While we regard Chillies as annuals in the UK, they are perennials in their natural environments. In these environments, it rarely reaches freezing the way it does here during winter. As a result, most Chillies subjected to the freezing conditions during winter in the United Kingdom will die. Full stop. A few varieties are cold weather resistant (to a certain extent), but none can cope with frost.

So, if we want them (or a selected few at least) to survive wintry conditions, the plants need to be brought indoors or kept in a protected environment outdoors. This process is called overwintering.

This year, I am overwintering twelve plants. Two of these (yellow Scotch bonnets) are in their second overwintering. I overwintered them for the first time last year. The remaining plants are four Satans kisses, an Aji Crystal, an Apache, three Barak Chillies and two unknowns (somehow, I managed to lose their markers). In time, once they flower again, I will attempt to identify them

Usually, I cut plants back for overwintering. I also always keep them in the warmest room in our house, out of direct sunlight. Under most circumstances, this means placing the plants in an area next to our fireplace in our lounge.

While I keep them in the lounge as I usually do, I didn’t prune any of these plants this year, as I might have done in previous years. I took the view that except for the Aji Crystal, my Scotch bonnets, and one bigger Satan’s kiss, my smaller plants could be considered to be ornamentals. They are, on average, only about twelve inches tall. They were also exceptionally pretty Chillies and had aesthetic appeal. With this in mind, I resolved to treat the smaller plants as house plants. For the larger plants, I decided to wait for them to lose their leaves before I pruned them back.

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Chilli seed starting. Using a fridge?

To freeze or to chill?

My last post was about starting Chilli seeds. In it, I mentioned that before starting seeds, you should use a fridge to refrigerate them, for three days.  This is something I recently started doing. It is something recommended by no less than the creator of the Carolina reaper in his seed starting guide. The idea behind placing the seeds in the fridge is to trick them into thinking it’s winter. Some schools of thought even recommend placing the seeds in the deep freeze to achieve this reaction.  I thought I would do some research on the subject. What is best; to cool or to freeze?

While it is likely that some seeds will germinate faster if placed in the deep freeze, particularly plants that grow naturally in cold weather climates.  But does this apply to Chillies?  They originated in the Amazon basin (in Peru and Bolivia), after all, and certainly don’t like the cold!

My understanding is that the Amazon basin is a part of the world that doesn’t get very cold. If that’s the case, why should I need to put my seeds in a deep freeze? I am sure the Amazon basin never gets to – 20 degrees Celsius as our deep freeze does?

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The Chillies I am growing in 2022

The Chilli types I am growing

Types of Chillies

I am going to town this year. I am growing over thirty-five types of Chillies. Some are overwintered plants, but I have also started thirty new varieties I have never grown before. These  range from the mild Bellaforma (700 SHU) to the superhot Carolina reaper (which has an average Scoville heat rating of 1.64 million SHU).

There are many other Scoville ratings for the other Chilli varieties  I am trying put between these two extremes.  These range from medium to very hot.   They cover most domesticated Chilli species, including C annuum, C pubescens, C baccatum, C chinense and C frutescens.

I am growing more superhots this season than I usually do. It’s not that I am a fan of the superhots heat levels; it’s more because these Chillies are so interesting. They certainly seem more challenging to grow than the milder types of Chilllies, but that just adds to the fun. I also want to experiment more with using superhots in cooking. Growing these extra superhot varieties will make this possible

The Rocotos that I am growing deserve a special mention. It is the first time I have grown C pubescens, and I must say I am impressed. In the short time these Chillies have been growing, they have done exceptionally well. They have done far better than any of the other Chillies. I can only put this down to the cold weather resistance of C pubescens. My other Chillies are now between one and two inches tall after four months of growing. The Rocotos are that height (and even taller at about 3 to 4 inches, after only ten weeks). No wonder Rocotos are so popular among British Chilli growers. They are certainly a robust species.

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The latest on the Rocotos

An update on the Rocotos

It has now been about seven weeks since my Rocoto seedlings  were planted. The tallest, named “Rocky” and “Rocco”, are about two to three inches tall.  They both have been potted on into 3-inch fibre pots. The rest (still to be named ?) are only about one inch tall. They are still in the eggshells they were started in.  The smaller seedlings still only have cotyledons. Once they develop their first set of true leaves, they too be potted on.

I have been pleased with these Chillies progress. Rocky and Rocco obviously like the new potting on mixture I developed last year. They are looking very healthy indeed. They are also definitely responding well to the current fertilization. I feed them with half strength Chilli Focus.  I am making sure they get the right amount of moisture with my newly acquired aquameters. These are little devices that allow you to gauge how wet potting soil is. Rocoto seedlingsEach of my larger Roccoto plants has one. When the indictor starts changing from blue to white, I know the time has come to give them water.

Since December, I am now only giving my seedlings rainwater. My wife bought me a rainwater barrel, and what a gift it was. I no longer have to use tap water. Watering Chillies with tap water can lead to nutrient lock out. I certainly don’t want that to happen with my Rocotos. They are, after all, my special plants

The general maintenance of these seedlings has been so far, so good. I am however still having to watch the aphids. As always, they always find a way of reappearing. This morning, I aim to wash the seedlings in a soap water solution that I make up. I use one tablespoon of a mild liquid soap like Castille, and add that to a quart of room temperature water. I then mix everything well. Once mixed, I turn the seedlings upside down (still in their pots) and submerge them in the solution. Normally this is enough to kill off any aphids, but to make sure I take it a step further. I allow the seedlings to dry, and then use my fingers to rub their leaves and stems. This wipes off any remaining aphids, whether dead or alive

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More on Rocoto Chillies

Getting to know the Rocoto Chilli

As mentioned in a previous post . I will be writing a series of posts on growing Rocoto Chillies. These posts will cover everything that happens from the moment I plant the seeds  until the plants mature. I will then write about how I use the Chillies in cooking. In other words, rocotos from start to finish. As part a of this I will be learning as much about Rocotos as possible. I want to explore where they are from, what’s the best way of growing them, and anything else interesting that I can find on this amazing Chilli.

The reason I chose the Rocoto for this series is mainly by chance. While researching something else, I stumbled across the fact that Rocotos are widely grown in the United Kingdom. This Chilli is apparently really popular amongst Chilli growers in this country.  I did’nt know that. Who would have thought that a Chilli one would associate more with South America, and perhaps Mexico would be so popular here?  My curiosity got the better of me ,so before long I was digging deeper into all things Rocoto.  What I have learned has been very interesting indeed. Now I am just waiting for my seeds to arrive.

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Another Chilli identified

Another one bites the dust

In a previous post, I discussed identifying the species of unknown Chillies by their flowers. After writing the post, I decided to try and identify the unknown Chilli that I have ripening under grow lights.  I believe I have succeeded in doing just that, but it was not that easy. I think this time I just got lucky. It certainly wasn’t through any great skill on my part. Read more

More on Identifying Chillies

More on Identifying Chillies

Identification through flowers

Have you ever bought seeds and then found that the Chilli, when fully grown, is not what you thought it would be? This has happened to me on several occasions now. It would seem that it is not that uncommon. I am not sure how it happens. Maybe some seed suppliers sometimes just get it wrong?

Just recently I had a case in point. In a previous post, I mentioned that I have placed a couple of my smaller Chilli plants under grow light lights to find out if this would help ripen the fruit. The plants were chosen for their size. They had to be small enough to fit under the lights. I chose a Barak Chilli and another that fitted the bill in terms of size. The latter falls into the category mentioned above. I need to try and identify it .

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