Capsicum annuum L.

Chillies Excl Giant Chillies Fresh Or Chilled 483000 kg or $1510000; Chillies Provisionally Preserved Not For Immediate Consumption 282000 kg or $706000; Chillies Dried 392147 kg or $981000; Chillies Crushed Or Ground 128542 kg or $319000; Chilli Sauce 1236456 kg or $3256000; Other types of capsicum dried or ground $266000 or 42579 kg; Other types of capsicum fresh or chilled $197000 or 68000 kg. (Trade Statistics, 2007 ed)

Chillies Excl Giant Chillies Fresh Or Chilled $3.13 per kg; Chillies Provisionally Preserved Not For Immediate Consumption $2.50 per kg; Chillies Dried $2.50 per kg; Chillies Crushed Or Ground $2.48 per kg; Chilli Sauce $2.63 per kg; Other types of capsicum dried or ground $6.25 per kg; Other types of capsicum fresh or chilled $2.90 per kg.(Trade Statistics, 2007 ed)

Crude chilli padi, semi processed ground chilli, processed chilli pastes.

Agri-food and Veterinary Authority (Plant Regulatory Branch) 
Web: www.ava.gov.sg

Plant: Uterine pain associated with childbirth is treated with soup which contains the plant (Sumner, 2000).

Leaves: The leaves are used to treat toothache (Wee and Hsuan, 1990). 

Fruits: The fruits are used to stimulate gastric activities and increase blood circulation (Wee and Hsuan, 1990). It is also a stimulant, carminative, used locally for neuralgia and for rheumatism (Jain and DeFilipps, 1991).

Antibacterial 
C. annuumextract inhibited Salmonella typhimurium and Pseudomonas aeruginosa growth, IC50 1.5 ml/100g of meat and 0.3 ml/100g of meat respectively. At 3ml/100g of meat, the extract showed a bactericidal effect on Pseudomonas aeruginosa (Careaga et al., 2003). Lowering of cecal Bacteroidaceae, a predominant bacterial group (from 9.4 to 9.0 log CFU/g), Bifidobacteria (from 8.7 to 7.6 log CFU/g) and Staphylococci was observed in mice fed with a diet containing 2% red pepper (Takashi et al., 2004).

Antifungal 
Peptides isolated from chilli pepper seeds inhibited the growth of yeasts Saccharomyces cerevisiae, Candida albicans, Candida parapsilosis, Candida tropicalis, Pichia membranifaciens, Kluyveromyces marxiannus and Candida guilliermondii (Ribeiro et al., 2007). F1 fraction exhibited strong fungicidal activity against Candida albicans, Saccharomyces cerevisiae and Schizosaccharomyces pombe and also promoted several morphological changes to C. albicans. F1 fraction also reduced the glucose stimulated acidification of the medium mediated by H(+)-ATPase of S. cerevisiae cells in a dose-dependent manner and caused the permeabilization of yeast plasma membrane to the dye SYTOX Green, as verified by confocal laser microscopy (Diz et al., 2006).

Anti-neoplastic
Capsaicin topically applied onto dorsal skin of female ICR mice strongly attenuated activation of NFкB and AP-1 induced by the typical tumour promoter, 12-O-tetra-decanoyl-phorbol-13-acetate (Han et al., 2002). Capsanthin, capsanthin 3’-ester, capsanthin diester, capsorubin, capsorubin diester, capsanthin 3,6-epoxide, cucurbitaxanthin A-3’ester and β-carotene isolated from the fruits of C. annuum demonstrated potent in vitro anti-tumour-promoting activity with inhibitory effects on Epstein–Barr virus early antigen (EBV-EA) activation induced by the tumour promoter 12-O-tetra-decanoyl-phorbol-13-acetate (TPA). Capsanthin diester and capsorbin diester showed strong inhibitory effects. Capsanthin, capsanthin 3′-ester and capsanthin 3,3′-diester and major carotenoids in C. annuum demonstrated potent anti-tumour-promoting activity in an in vivo mouse skin two-stage carcinogenesis assay using 7, 12-dimethylbenz[a]anthracene as an initiator and TPA as a promoter (Takashi et al., 2001).

Antioxidant 
6'',7''-dihydro-5',5'"-dicapsaicin showed antioxidant activity comparable to that of capsaicin and was about 25 times more potent than α-tocopherol when compared on the ADP/Fe2+ induced liposomal lipid peroxidation (IC50 of 10 μM for 6' ',7' '-dihydro-5',5' "-dicapsaicin compared to IC50 of 250 μM for α-tocopherol) (Ochi et al., 2003). Capsorubin and related compounds capsanthin, capsanthin 3,6-epoxide and cycloviolaxanthin isolated from C. annuum inhibited the oxidation of methyl linoleate in solution initiated by 2,2'-azobis(2,4-di-Me vareronitrile) (AMVN) with the antioxidative activities decreasing in the order of capsorubin, capsanthin 3,6-epoxide, capsanthin, cycloviolaxanthin to β-carotene (Takashi et al., 2001).

Ascorbic acid, capsaicin, and total phenolic compounds found in C. annuum contributed to its antioxidative activities (Antonious et al., 2006). The free radical scavenging abilities of peppers determined by the 2,2'-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) method were lowest for the green pepper (2.1 µmol Trolox equivalent/g) but not significantly different from the other 3 peppers. All 4 colored peppers exhibited significant abilities in preventing the oxidation of cholesterol or docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) (C22:6) during heating (Sun et al., 2007). The highest antioxidant activity in the beta-carotene-linoleic acid system was found for trans-p-sinapoyl-beta-d-glucopyranoside, which was lower than the activity of free sinapic acid. Quercetin 3-O-alpha-l-rhamnopyranoside had the highest antiradical activity in the DPPH system, which was comparable to the activity of quercetin. The activities of capsaicin and dihydrocapsaicin were similar to that of trans-p-feruloyl-beta-d-glucopyranoside in the DPPH model system (Materska and Perucka, 2005).

Antiprotozoal
Oil of C. annuum killed 90--96% of the cercaria of Schistosoma mansoni 15 min (Frischkorn et al., 1978).

Hypocholesterolaemic 
Rabbits fed with 1% red pepper powder for 12 weeks showed reduced blood plasma cholesteryl ester transfer protein activity than controls. The plasma total cholesterol, triglyceride, LDL-C, VLDL-C, and VLDL-TG levels and the atherogenic index were all decreased in the red pepper group, whereas the HDL-C level was higher in the red pepper group. Red pepper supplementation increased fecal triglyceride excretion. The red pepper-fed group also had fewer fat droplet deposits in the aorta than the control group (Kwon et al., 2003).

Hypolipidaemic 
Mice fed a diet containing 2% red pepper for 28 days had lower levels of triacylglycerides compared to control mice (58 mg/100 ml versus 73.8 mg/100ml). Epididymal fat tissue was also reduced from 1.26 g in control rats to 0.7161 g in red pepper fed mice (Takashi et al., 2004).

Pesticidal 
Spider mite mortality was greatest (45%) when fruit extract of accession Grif-9169 (C. annuum) was used (Antonious et al., 2006).

Immunomodulatory
Capsicum extract and capsaicin modulate T cell-immune responses, and their immunomodulatory effects on murine PP cells are partly due to both TRPV1-dependent and -independent pathway (Takano et al., 2007).

Anti-mutagenic 
C. annuum was effective in reducing the mutational events induced by the promutagen agent ethyl carbamate (EC) and alkylating agent methyl methane sulphonate (MMS) in Drosophila melanogaster larvae (Hamss et al., 2003). Chili samples were tested for antimutagenic effect against urethane by using the somatic mutation and recombination of wing hair of Drosophila melanogaster as an indicator The specific chili as well as the method of processing influenced the observed antimutagenic properties against urethane (Laohavechvanich et al., 2006).

Memory deficit amelioration 
Dietary ingestion of C. annuum ameliorated the age related alteration of senenescence accelerated mouse, SAMP8. SAMP8 mice that received a diet containing 0.1% (w/w) capsanthin showed a much better memory acquisition in passive avoidance tasks compared to those given the control diet (Suganma et al., 2004).

High doses could be toxic and administered over extended period of time can cause chronic gastritis, kidney damage, liver damage and neurotoxic effects (Gruenwald et al., 2000). Extremely vesicant in undiluted form (Skidmore-Roth, 2001).

C. annuum fed to male mice at concentrations up to 10% for 4 weeks was found to be relatively nontoxic. Damage to the liver and spleen was observed in rabbits after feeding them with C. annuum powder at 5 mg/kg day^-1 daily for 12 months. The safety of capsicum-derived ingredients are being discussed in this review article (Johnson, 2007).

Aspirin and salicylic compounds (Lininger et al., 1999; Gruenwald et al., 2000). Decreases actions of α-adrenergic blockers, clonidine (anti-hypertensive), methyldopa (anti-hypertensive) (Skidmore-Roth, 2001). Hypertensive crisis with monoamine oxidase inhibitors (Skidmore-Roth, 2001).

5 to 15 drops of the tincture can be mixed in water (1:5 dilution) and administered four times daily. Topically, the cream (0.025-0.075% concentration) can be applied for at least 2 weeks for beginning pain relief, up to four times daily (Skidmore-Roth, 2001).

Two cups of the decoction is recommended to be drunk daily. It can be prepared by mixing 0.5 L water with 5 g powdered drug, 3 g powdered cascarilla bark and 5 g powdered rhubarb root. Homeopathically, it is used for inflammation of the efferent urinary tract, alimentary canal, mouth and throat and middle ear infection. 5 drops, 1 tablet or 10 globules every 30 to 60 mins (acute) or 1 to 3 times daily (chronic) (Gruenwald et al., 2000).