Capsicum or Chili Pepper

Family Solanaceae. In the USSR the Mexican chili pepper is grown in Ukraine, the North Caucasus, Transcaucasia, Moldova, and Central Asia; in protected and heated soil and in indoor culture (small-fruited) — everywhere; varieties for open-ground cultivation in central regions have been developed.

Perennial subshrub, in cultivation — an annual vegetable plant. Stem branched, woody at the base, 30 to 130 cm tall. Leaves simple, with long or short petioles, solitary or gathered in a rosette, from green to olive-blackish-green. Flowers large, axillary, solitary or in clusters; corolla white or greenish, sometimes with a yellow base, with purple markings or purple. Fruits false hollow berries, many-seeded, red, orange, yellow or brown, of various shapes and sizes (from 0.25 to 190 g). In the wild the chili pepper is found in the tropical regions of the Americas. It is cultivated in the warm-temperate south, subtropical and tropical latitudes of all continents. Chili peppers are thermophilic, moisture-loving plants; the optimal temperature for growth and development is 18-25 °C. They require highly fertile, well-structured soils. In cultivation there are 4 types of chili pepper: Peruvian (C. angulosum), Colombian (C. conicum), pubescent (C. pubescens) and Mexican (C. annuum), the latter being the most widespread. Fruits are used for food at biological maturity, but more often at technical maturity. Ripe fruits of the Mexican chili pepper contain: sugars 4-8.5%, proteins about 1.5%, carotene up to 14 mg%, vitamin C 125-300 mg%, and small amounts of vitamins B1 and B2. Varieties of chili pepper are divided into sweet and hot (the pungency is imparted by the alkaloid capsaicin — from 0.007 to 1.9). Fruits of chili pepper are used for canning and in cooking; hot varieties are used as a spice.

Chili peppers are grown from seedlings (in the south sometimes by sowing seeds directly into the ground). Seeds are sown in hotbeds and greenhouses 45-55 days before planting out (in northern regions 60-75). On 1 ha 40-60 thousand plants are planted using square-hill (70 X 70 cm) or row methods. Care consists of inter-row cultivation of the soil, fertilization, and irrigation. Hot varieties are harvested in two picks when the fruits turn red; sweet ones are harvested 4-15 times during the summer at the stage of technical maturity. Yield of hot chili pepper up to 200 centners per hectare, of sweet up to 300 centners; in protected ground up to 12 kg per m2. Pests: Caradrina, or tomato moth, cotton bollworm, nematodes, etc.; diseases: rots, viruses, wilting, etc.