The bell pepper is the fruit of plants in the Grossum cultivar group of the species Capsicum annuum. Cultivars of the plant produce fruits in different colors, including red, yellow, orange, green, white, and purple. Bell peppers are sometimes grouped with less pungent chili varieties as "sweet peppers". While they are fruits—botanically classified as berries—they are commonly used as a vegetable ingredient or side dish. The fruits of the Capsicum genus are categorized as chili peppers.
The chili pepper, from Nahuatl chīlli, is the berry-fruit of plants from the genus Capsicum which are members of the nightshade family, Solanaceae. Chili peppers are widely used in many cuisines as a spice to add pungent 'heat' to dishes. Capsaicin and related compounds known as capsaicinoids are the substances giving chili peppers their intensity when ingested or applied topically. Although this definition would technically include bell peppers, in common language they are often two discrete categories: bell peppers and chili peppers.
The jalapeño is a medium-sized chile pepper pod type cultivar of the species Capsicum annuum. A mature jalapeño chile is 5–10 cm (2–4 in) long and hangs down with a round, firm, smooth flesh of 25–38 mm wide. It can have a range of pungency, with Scoville heat units of 3,500 to 8,000. Commonly picked and consumed while still green, it is occasionally allowed to fully ripen and turn red, orange, or yellow. It is wider and generally milder than the similar Serrano pepper.
Capsicum annuum is a species of the plant genus Capsicum native to southern North America, the Caribbean, and northern South America. This species is the most common and extensively cultivated of the five domesticated capsicums. The species encompasses a wide variety of shapes and sizes of peppers, both mild and hot, such as bell peppers, jalapeños, New Mexico chile, and cayenne peppers. Cultivars descended from the wild American bird pepper are still found in warmer regions of the Americas. In the past, some woody forms of this species have been called C. frutescens, but the features that were used to distinguish those forms appear in many populations of C. annuum and are not consistently recognizable features in C. frutescens species.
The pasilla chile or chile negro is the dried form of the chilaca chili pepper, a long and narrow member of species Capsicum annuum. Named for its dark, wrinkled skin, it is a mild to hot, rich-flavored chile. As dried, it is generally 6 to 8 inches long and 1 to 1+1⁄2 inches in diameter.
Capsicum chinense, commonly known as a "habanero-type pepper", is a species of chili pepper native to the Americas. C. chinense varieties are well known for their unique flavors and many have exceptional heat. The hottest peppers in the world are members of this species, with Scoville Heat Unit scores of over 2 million. Some taxonomists consider them to be part of the species C. annuum, and they are a member of the C. annuum complex; however, C. chinense and C. annuum pepper plants can sometimes be distinguished by the number of flowers or fruit per node – two to five for C. chinense and one for C. annuum – though this method is not always correct. The two species can also hybridize and generate inter-specific hybrids. It is believed that C. frutescens is the ancestor to the C. chinense species.
The Santa Fe Grande is a New Mexico chile pepper, also known as "Yellow hot chili pepper" and the "Guero chili pepper", is a very prolific cultivar used in the Southwestern United States. The plants are resistant to tobacco mosaic virus.
Pequinpepper is a hot chili pepper cultivar commonly used as a spice. Pequin peppers are very hot, often 5–8 times hotter than jalapeños on the Scoville scale. Flavor is described as citrusy, smoky, and nutty.
The poblano is a mild chili pepper originating in the state of Puebla, Mexico. Dried, it is called ancho or chile ancho, from the Spanish word ancho ("wide"). Stuffed fresh and roasted it is popular in chiles rellenos poblanos.
Siling labuyo is a small chili pepper cultivar that developed in the Philippines after the Columbian Exchange. It belongs to the species Capsicum frutescens and is characterized by triangular fruits which grow pointing upwards. The fruits and leaves are used in traditional Philippine cuisine. The fruit is pungent, ranking at 80,000 to 100,000 heat units in the Scoville Scale.
The Fresno chile or Fresno chili pepper is a medium-sized cultivar of Capsicum annuum. It should not be confused with the Fresno Bell pepper. It is often confused with the jalapeño pepper but has thinner walls, often has milder heat, and takes less time to mature. It is, however, a New Mexico chile, which is genetically distinct from the jalapeño and it grows point up, rather than point down as with the jalapeño. The fruit starts out bright green changing to orange and red as fully matured. A mature Fresno pepper will be conical in shape, 50 mm (2 in) long, and about 25 mm (1 in) in diameter at the stem. The plants do well in warm to hot temperatures and dry climates with long sunny summer days and cool nights. They are very cold-sensitive and disease resistant, reaching a height of 60–75 cm (24–30 in).
The Trinidad Moruga scorpion is a chili pepper native to the village of Moruga, Trinidad and Tobago. It is one of the spiciest chilies in the world. In 2012, New Mexico State University's Chile Pepper Institute identified the Trinidad Moruga scorpion as the hottest chili at that time, with heat of 1.2 million Scoville heat units (SHUs). In 2017 according to Guinness World Records, the hottest pepper was the Carolina Reaper, with 1.6 million SHU.
The Chile Pepper Institute at New Mexico State University in Las Cruces, New Mexico, United States is an international research-based and non-profit organization specializing in research, education and archiving information related to Capsicum or chile peppers. The institute was established in 1992, devoted to research and educating the world about chile peppers. Its research facility is named for Fabian Garcia, the famous horticulturalist dubbed the father of the U.S. chile pepper industry, who began standardizing varieties of chile pepper in 1888.
New Mexico chile or New Mexican chile is a cultivar group of the chile pepper from the US state of New Mexico, first grown by Pueblo and Hispano communities throughout Santa Fe de Nuevo México. These heritage chile plants were used to develop the modern New Mexico chile peppers by horticulturist Dr. Fabián García and his students, including Dr. Roy Nakayama, at what is now New Mexico State University in 1894. New Mexico chile, which typically grows from a green to a ripened red, is popular in the cuisine of the Southwestern United States, the broader Mexican cuisine, and Sonoran and Arizona cuisine, and an integral staple of New Mexican cuisine. Chile is one of New Mexico's state vegetables, and is referenced in the New Mexico state question "Red or Green?".
Bird's eye chili, bird eye chili, bird's chili, Thai chili, or cili padi in Malay, is a chili pepper, a variety from the species Capsicum annuum, commonly found in Ethiopia and across Southeast Asia. It is used extensively in many Asian cuisines. It may be mistaken for a similar-looking chili derived from the species Capsicum frutescens, the cultivar "siling labuyo". Capsicum frutescens fruits are generally smaller and characteristically point upwards.
Capsicum is a genus of flowering plants in the nightshade family Solanaceae, native to the Americas, cultivated worldwide for their chili pepper or bell pepper fruit.
The habanero is a hot variety of chili. Unripe habaneros are green, and they color as they mature. The most common color variants are orange and red, but the fruit may also be white, brown, yellow, green, or purple. Typically, a ripe habanero is 2–6 centimetres long. Habanero chilis are very hot, rated 100,000–350,000 on the Scoville scale. The habanero's heat, flavor and floral aroma make it a popular ingredient in hot sauces and other spicy foods.
The Chimayópepper is a New Mexico chile pepper landrace of the species Capsicum annuum. It is named after the town of Chimayó, New Mexico, where roughly 200 hectares of Chimayó peppers are harvested annually. It is considered one of the two best chiles in the state, the others being those grown in Hatch. The pepper is so prized that powdered Chimayó pepper can cost as much as $45 per pound. Chimayó chiles have a complex flavor described as sweet and smoky, and are extremely popular in New Mexican cuisine for making posole and carne adovada.
The Sandia pepper or Sandia chile pepper is a New Mexico chile pepper cultivar of the species Capsicum annuum with a scoville rating which ranges from mild to hot. This cultivar is extensively grown in New Mexico where it was developed and is popular in New Mexican cuisine. Sandia peppers picked while still green are typically roasted to produce green chile. When ripened, this variety can be dried and ground to make chile powder. Sandia peppers grown and consumed in New Mexico are most commonly used to make red or green posole, green chile stew, and carne adovada.
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