CAPSICUM, OR CAYENNE
CAYENNE pepper, Guiana pepper, Spanish pepper, Mexican chilli, as it is
often called, more commonly spoken of as red pepper, is a genus of herbs
or shrubs of the nightshade family (_Salanaceoe_) the fruit of any
species of capsicum. The name capsicum is of uncertain origin, perhaps
from kato, to bite—all of them having a strong, pungent flavor, or from
_L. capso_, box or chest, from the shape of the fruit; the latter name
being given to it by Broconna.
ANNUUM HERBACEOUS OR SUFFRUTESCENT
The true peppers are members of a totally distinct order, the
_Piperaceoe_.
French, _Piment or Corail des Jardins Poivra d’Inde_ or _Guinee_;
German, _Spanisher Oderkerscher Pfeffer_.
Cayenne takes its name from the city of Cayenne (Koyen or Kien) (see
illustration), or from the island and river, both of same name, on which
it is located, or from the province of Cayenne in French Guiana, South
America. The city of Cayenne is a French penal station, and exports
large quantities of Cayenne, which we call Guiana pepper.
Probably the first known history of Cayenne pepper in Europe is that
given by Martyr, who writes of Columbus bringing it home with him in
1493, and speaks of it as being more pungent than that from Caucasus,
probably referring to the Oriental black pepper. About a century later,
Gerarde writes of its being brought into Europe from Africa and Southern
Asia and being grown in European gardens. Probably the first record of
its use is that given by Doctor Chauca, who was physician with
Columbus’s fleet in 1494, and who alludes to it as a condiment used in
dressing meats, dyeing, and other purposes, as well as a medicine.
Cayenne pepper is supposed to have first been brought to America by the
Portuguese, who found it growing in a wild state. Our greater supply now
comes from Zanzibar, Nepaul, Bombay, and Penang. Almost every gardener
knows the red pepper plant. The plants are generally started in a
nursery or hot-house in early spring, from the seed, and are
transplanted when a few inches high, as soon as the weather will permit,
in the prepared garden, about four feet apart. When about six inches
high, a little rich fertilizer should be worked in the soil about the
plants. The Cayenne pepper plant is an annual and is a slow grower, and
it seldom rises higher than four feet. It has a rough stem, nearly
globulous, with branches diffused and often scandent; the leaves are
lancelate, quite entire and repand, small, smooth, petioled, alternate
in pairs or near each other, greenish-white flowers, seldom violaceous;
solitary or in twos and threes with rotate five, rarely six or seven,
cleft corolla; stamens, five, and rarely six or seven, with five bluish
anthers (connivent and dehising longitudinally) and an obtuse stigma,
calyx usually embracing base of ovary, which soon becomes a pod,
consisting of a fleshy envelope at first and afterwards a leathery,
oblong, linear, juiceless pod or fruit, in which are the spongy pulp and
seeds. These fruit pods are of several varieties, varying in shape and
color, and being long or short, podded and oval, round or heart-shaped.
The pods are bright red or yellow, divided into two or three cells full
of small white seeds, known as pod pepper. The pods which are of a green
color, when full grown, commence to change first to a lovely canary
yellow and then to a rose pink, and so on through the different shades
until they are intense scarlet when ready for harvesting in August and
September (see illustration).
Don gives a list of thirty-three varieties in his General System of
Gardening and Botany, which are used to make Cayenne pepper, but there
are ninety different species of capsicum known, and ranging in height
from a small plant of six inches to ornamental plants six feet in
height, and of many varieties or species of capsicum too contribute to
that found in commerce.
The _C. frutescens_ of the _Fastigiatum_ (perennial) sometimes reaches
to a height of several feet with branching and spreading tops, sometimes
decumbent, leaves broadly ovate, fruit of various shapes and colors,
usually small and very pungent, borne on long peduncles and is the
species which is officinal in both the British and United States
Pharmacopœias. It grows in tropical Africa and America and is called
Zanzibar pepper, and often by the name of Mexican chillies, and is of a
high grade of Cayenne (Fig. 1). Its pods are very small, being from
one-half to three-fourths inch long and very bright red, containing
white seeds, the skin of the pods being tender and very pungent. The
color of its powder is lighter yellow than C. annum, has a fibrous root
system. Potato and tomato belonging to the same family, it is found
growing in the United States and Europe and has been growing in English
gardens since 1548 and, although indigenous to South America, is now
cultivated in India, Hungary, Italy, and Turkey.
Nepaul capsicum (or Nepal and Nipal), as it is sometimes called, has an
odor and flavor resembling orris and a pod the color of amber when
dried. It is most esteemed as a condiment, being aromatic and
appetizing, and not so acrid or biting as is most Cayenne. It is found
cultivated on the mountain side in Hindoostan.
Cayenne of the African variety comes from Sierra Leone in the east and
from Natal, southeast of Cape Colony, including Zululand and Tangaland,
or from a territory that has a coast line of 300 miles. It grows to a
height of five or six feet producing long, kidney-shaped, orange-colored
pods. It is shipped from the port of Natal. It is considered the best
for fluid extract. That from Sierra Leone (Fig. 3) has pods that are
small, conical-pointed, and less than one inch in length. It is very
pungent, and when reduced to powder is a light brownish yellow with a
peculiar odor and somewhat aromatic. It is stronger in the powder than
in the dry fruit, and to the taste is bitterish, acrid, and burning,
producing, a fiery sensation in the mouth, which continues for a long
time. There is a new Cayenne on the market of recent date, called
Mombassa, from the city of the same name in Africa.
[Illustration: CAYENNE]
Bombay Cayenne (Fig. 2) has large pods, from two to three inches long,
which when dry become flat in shape and of a pale-red color. It is not
so fine flavored or pungent as the Zanzibar and is of less value.
The true Mexican chillies are grown mostly in Frantera de Tabasco,
Mexico, the name being much used for Cayenne chillies from other
countries, as has been mentioned.
The smaller varieties (_C. baccatum_) have been known in the English
gardens since 1731; plants, small and very erect, and slender branches,
fastigiate, flexous; corolla, small, spreading about one-half an inch,
and has a globular fruit called cherry or berry capsicum, and are
usually known as the “chillies” or “bird pepper.” They are not more than
one-half to three-quarters of an inch while the _C. annuum_ is two to
three inches long.
_C. fastigiatum_ (_minimum_) which is usually termed the shrubbery
capsicum and by Rheede is called _capo-malago_, is found growing wild in
South India and is extensively cultivated in tropical Africa and
America. It is three to six feet high with prominently angled or
somewhat channeled stem and loosely spreading or trailing branches;
leaves broadly ovate and acuminate, three to six inches long and two to
three and one-half inches wide; peduncles, slender and one to two inches
long in pairs, usually longer than the fruit; calyx, cup-shaped,
embracing base of fruit; corolla, often with acherous markings in the
throat; fruit, red, obtuse or oblong, acuminate, three-fourths to one
and one-fourth inches long, and one-fourth to three-fourths of an inch
in diameter, and very acrid.
_C. annuum_ (_Longum crossum_), bell-shaped, of Algeria, which are often
spoken of as herbaceous, and by Rheede as _vallia capo-malago_, the
difference being chiefly in the nature of the stem.
It is two feet high with few branches and very large leaves, often three
to five inches long, and sometimes caricous, lower ones usually pendant
petioles, deeply channeled; peduncles, about one inch long; corolla,
large and spreading seven-eighths to one and one-fourth inches; fruit,
large, oblate, oblong or truncated, three to four-lobed, usually with
basal depressions, more or less sulcate and rugose; flesh, thick, firm
and mild flavor.
The Minimum in Hindoostan is named “Dhan Nurich.” The _C. grossum_ bears
fruit as large as a small apple and is called by the English in India
coffrie chillie. It is preferred for pickling, the seed being first
removed. The skin is fleshy and tender.
_C. fasciculatum_ has few branches and clustered leaves or crowded in
branches about the summit, elliptical, lanceolate, pointed at both ends;
fruit clustered erect, slender, about three inches long, one-fourth inch
in diameter, very acrid and is the red cluster pepper.
_Acuminatum_ (_C. chilense_), herbaceous, very branchy, about two and
one-half feet high, becoming a dense mass of foliage; flowers, medium
size, spreading one-half to three-fourths inch; fruit, larger than _C.
fasciculatum_.
_C. cerasiforme_ has leaves medium ovate, oblong, acuminate, about one
and one-fourth to three and one-half inches long; calyx seated on base
of fruit; corolla, large and spreading seven-eighths to one and one-half
inches; fruit, one-half to one-eighth inch thick, spherical, subcordate,
oblate or occasionally obscurely pointed, or slightly elongated, smooth,
or, rarely, minutely rugose or sulcate; extremely pungent, and cherry
yellow.
_Tetragomum_, or bonnet pepper, is a species much esteemed in Guiana,
which bears very large, handsome, fleshy fruit, two colors, scarlet and
golden yellow; and _C. frutescens_ (spur or goat pepper) has been
growing in the English gardens since 1856, is said to yield most of the
Cayenne pepper which comes from the West Indies and South America;
largely used in salads.
A kind called tobacco pepper is said to possess the most pungent
properties of any of the species. It yields a small red pod generally
less than an inch in length, and is longitudinal in shape, mostly borne
above the leaves, and is so exceedingly hot that a small quantity of it
is sufficient to season a large dish of any food.
Owing to its oleaginous character it has been found impossible to
preserve it by drying, but by pouring strong boiling vinegar on it a
sauce or decoction can be made which will possess in a concentrated form
all the essential qualities of the vegetable, a single drop being enough
to flavor a whole plate of soup or food.
The chilli plant is the Lat-tsiao of Cochin Chinese. It is constantly
found in its wild state in the eastern islands. These varieties are
enumerated by botanists; their fruits differ in degrees of pungency. All
capsicum is a low grade of Cayenne. It requires but the simplest
culture, and cultivation appears to increase the size of the fruit, but
it diminishes its pungency.
Several varieties of _C. annuum_ have little or no pungency. One of
these is abundantly grown in Austria-Hungary, from which we obtain
Paprika of the Magyars. Another kind is imported into this country from
Spain in a powder for feeding birds to improve the colors of their
feathers and to make them sing.
There are growing in the botanical gardens of Calcutta six species of
capsicum, viz, _annuum_, _grossum_, _frutescens_, _baccatum_,
_purpureum_, _and minimum_. The _grossum_ in Hindoostan is called
“Kaffrie Murich” and of the _frutescens_ there are two varieties, the
red and the yellow, called by the Bengalese “lall-lunka,” “Murich” and
“huldi-lunka” Murich. The Cyngalese name for frutescens is Casnairis.
There is said to be a black pod as well as a red and yellow known on the
Island of Ceylon.
The consumption of chillies in India is immense, as they are used by
both rich and poor and constitute the principal seasoning for the poor
in their rice. The natives of the West Indies, Africa, and Mexico use
them very extensively.
West India stomachic man-drum is prepared by washing a few pods of
bird’s pepper and mixing them with sliced cucumber and shallots, to
which add a little lime juice or Madeira wine.
A great quantity of agri or Guiana pepper is grown in Peru, a variety
which the natives are very fond of as a condiment. It is not uncommon
for an American Indian to make a meal of twenty to thirty pods of
capsicum and a little salt and a piece of bread washed down with chica,
their popular beverage.
The wort, or Cayenne pottage, may be termed the national dish of the
Abyssinians, as that, or its basis, “dillock,” is almost always eaten
with their ordinary diet. Equal parts of salt and well-powdered red
Cayenne pod are mixed together with a little pea or bean meal to make a
paste which is called dillock. This mixture is made in quantities at a
time, being preserved in a large gourd shell, generally suspended from
the roof. The wort is merely a little water added to the paste, which is
boiled over the fire with the addition of a little fat meat. More meal
is added to make a kind of porridge, to which sometimes are also added
several warm seeds, such as the common cress or black mustard. Sometimes
the larger peppers are harvested when full grown, while yet green in
color, to be used for mangoes by removing the seeds and stuffing with
chow-chow pickles. Cayenne may be considered one of the most useful
vegetables in hygiene as a stimulant and auxiliary in digestion and has
been considered invaluable in warm climates. It is used medicinally for
various ailments in form of tinctures, as a rubefacient and stimulant,
especially in case of ulcerated sore throat and also dropsy, colic, and
toothache; when mixed with honey and applied externally is a good remedy
for quinsy. It is also used for tropical fevers, for gout and paralysis.
It acts on the stomach as an aromatic condiment and when preserved in
acetic acid it forms chilli vinegar. When the seed of the chillies or
capsicum is fresh it has a penetrating, acrid smell, and this irritant
property which prevails obscures the narcotic action. Its acridity is
owing to an oleaginous substance called capsicine, and this extremely
pungent principle produces a most painful burning in the mouth. Capsicum
or chillies is generally imported in bales of 130 pounds each and
occasionally is bottled in vinegar when green or ripe. In the large
factories a special mill is usually reserved for powdering Cayenne
exclusively, instead of burr-stone mills with the ordinary shaking
sifter. A high-speed iron plate mill is often used, and in connection
with this a large revolving reel is required for sifting the spice as it
is ground. The coarse part or tailings are returned to the mill
automatically by means of a suitable, connected-bucket elevator. A
special grinding outfit of this kind can be arranged so that it does not
require much attention from the workman, a device which is very
essential, as the fine powder works into the skin and great care must be
used in handling the goods. Small grinders prefer to buy it powdered
from the large factories. Sometimes the powdered Cayenne pepper is
adulterated by mixing with wheat flour and made into cakes with yeast
and baked hard like biscuit, then they are ground and sifted.
[Illustration: PUBLIC BUILDINGS, BOMBAY]
[Illustration: A MADRAS FAMILY
As the children marry, they build an addition to the old home]
The pericarp consists of two layers, the outer being composed of yellow,
thick-walled cells; the inner layer is twice as broad and exhibits a
soft, shrunken parenchyma, traversed by their fibro-vascular bundles.
The cells of the outer layer are especially the seat of the fine
granules of coloring matter, which contain a fat or oily substance, as
may be found if they are removed by alcoholic solution of potash.
The structural details of this fruit afford interesting subjects for
microscopical investigation. The peculiarities described are so
distinctive that the presence of foreign matter is easily detected. The
cells of the pericarp or epidermis are of a peculiar flattened and
chain-like angular form, which are characteristic of Cayenne. The other
structures are not as prominent, but are not liable to be confounded
with those of any adulterants. Diagrammatic representatives of this
structure are given in Fig. 45, Chap. III, and the appearance of the
pure ground Cayenne under polarized light in Fig. 44.
The portions of the seed in the powder are not readily distinguished
without careful examination. They are, however, characteristic and
contain starch, the form of which is shown in Fig. 20, Chap. III. The
adulterants used are mineral coloring matter to hide the loss of color,
which takes place on exposure of Cayenne to light, and for added weight
ground rice, tumeric, husk of mustard, etc. Rice and corn flour
adulterations are shown in Fig. 45, which cannot be confused with the
few starch grains found in the lower layer of the pericarp or in the
seed. The tumeric and mustard are recognized by their peculiar
structure.
The chemical composition of capsicum is (1) a fixed oil without sharp
smell or taste and which is almost entirely in the seed; (2) a
camphor-like substance which tastes and smells sharp, and which contains
the peculiar principle of Cayenne (_capsicine_); this principle is found
both in the pod and in the seeds, but in greater quantity in the pod;
(3) a resinous body, the red coloring matter (capsicum red), which is
found only in the pod.
In the detection of the adulterations of Cayenne by chemical methods,
determination of water and ash, ether extracts and albuminoids are of
value, and as a rule when combined with a microscopic examination will
reveal the means and amounts of adulterations without difficulty.
Chemical composition of _Capsicum annum_, water at 100 degrees:
Seed Pod Whole
Fruit
Water at 100 deg., 8.12 14.75 11.94
Albuminoids, 18.31 10.69 13.88
Fat (ether extract), 28.54 5.48 15.26
Nitrogen, free extract 21.33 38.73 32.63
by difference
Crude Fiber, 17.50 23.75 21.09
Ash, 3.20 6.62 5.20
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Total, 97.00 100.00 100.00
Nitrogen, 2.93 1.71 2.22
------------------------------------------------------------------------
[Illustration: PIMENTO OR ALLSPICE
1 Garden Allspice
2 Wild Allspice]