Chili pepper, also spelled chile, is a spicy fruit with a thick, fleshy wall surrounding a mass of seeds. Chili peppers are eaten as vegetables or used as spices. They are valued around the world for their shape, color, aroma, and hot taste. They also serve as a good source of nutrients, including vitamins A, C, and E. Chili pepper varieties include jalapeño, mirasol, New Mexico, pasilla, poblano, and serrano. The chili pepper plant is a shrub.
Most chili peppers are grown for the sensation of heat they produce in the mouth. This sensation is caused by compounds called capsaicinoids. Capsaicinoids are also used in muscle ointments, self-defense sprays, and toothache remedies.
The “heat” of a chili pepper can be measured in Scoville Heat Units (SHU), named for the American chemist Wilbur Scoville. The hottest chili pepper varieties known have SHU values in the millions. By contrast, jalapeños are 2,500 to 6,000 SHU.
See also Pepper .
