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Chili pepper — Whole tree
Solanaceae (nightshade family)LC · Least concern

Chili pepper

Capsicum annuum L.

Also known asSky-pointing chiliHorn chili

Chili pepper (Capsicum annuum) is a small shrub whose hollow fruit is pungent from capsaicin; it is one of the world's most used spices, with countless cultivars from sweet to extremely hot.

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Oct 9, 2026
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Overview

An herbaceous plant to small shrub 0.5–1.5 m tall, much-branched. Simple alternate leaves are ovate and pointed. Small star-shaped white (sometimes purple) flowers grow singly in leaf axils. The fruit is a hollow berry, green when unripe and turning red/yellow/purple at maturity, 2–30 cm long by cultivar, with many flat cream-yellow seeds.

Pungency is due to capsaicin, measured on the Scoville scale (SHU); C. annuum ranges from sweet peppers (0 SHU) to cultivars of tens of thousands SHU. The fruit is rich in vitamin C (higher than orange), provitamin A and antioxidants; used as spice, sauce, powder, and capsaicin in pain-relief creams.

Life cycle

From seed to product

Seed

Cream-yellow seeds from ripe fruit germinate in 1–2 weeks.

Young plant

Young plants grow fast and flower in 2–3 months.

Flowering

White star-shaped flowers in leaf axils, largely self-pollinating.

Fruiting

Green fruits turn red/yellow as they ripen; harvest lasts months and plants crop for 1–3 years.

Distribution & origin

Share of recorded occurrences by region
  • Mexico · Central America (native)16%
  • China · East Asia24%
  • India · South Asia20%
  • Southeast Asia · Vietnam22%
  • Africa · Latin America18%

Chemical composition

Relative content in agarwood resin
  • CapsaicinPungency, pain relief30%
  • CapsanthinRed pigment20%
  • Vitamin C · AVery high in fresh fruit30%
  • Flavonoids · mineralsAntioxidant20%

Uses

  • Spice, chili sauce, powder and paste
  • Topical capsaicin for muscle/joint pain; insect-repellent sprays
  • Ornamental cultivars; fruit rich in vitamin C

Properties

Leaf
Simple, ovate-pointed
Flower
White, star-shaped, small
Fruit
Hollow berry, pungent, red/yellow

Habitat & conservation

Native to Mexico and Central America; likes a warm, sunny climate and loose, humus-rich, well-drained soil; grown year-round in the tropics, mainly in the dry season to early rains.

Conservation

Not globally threatened (IUCN: Least Concern). A globally common crop supplied mainly by farming.

References

  1. 1Plants of the World Online — Capsicum annuum — Kew Science, 2024
  2. 2IUCN Red List — Capsicum annuum — IUCN, 2019
  3. 3Capsicum: breeding and health properties — CRC Press, 2019
  4. 4Hình ảnh minh hoạ lấy từ Wikimedia Commons, tôn trọng giấy phép ghi kèm — Wikimedia Commons,
  5. 5Nguồn ảnh: Billjones94 (CC BY-SA 4.0), Wikimedia Commons — Wikimedia Commons,
  6. 6Nguồn ảnh: User:Carstor (CC BY-SA 2.5), Wikimedia Commons — Wikimedia Commons,
  7. 7Nguồn ảnh: Vinayaraj (CC BY-SA 4.0), Wikimedia Commons — Wikimedia Commons,
  8. 8Nguồn ảnh: Rosser1954 (CC BY-SA 4.0), Wikimedia Commons — Wikimedia Commons,
  9. 9Nguồn ảnh: Edeh Sophia (CC0), Wikimedia Commons — Wikimedia Commons,
  10. 10Nguồn ảnh: Sabina Bajracharya (CC BY-SA 4.0), Wikimedia Commons — Wikimedia Commons,
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