ABSTRACT
Tropical South America is believed to be the original home of Capsicum, where the different varieties were known by different names in regional dialects, one of them being “chilli”. They were introduced into Spain in the fifteenth century by Columbus who named it red pepper. Capsicum is believed to have been introduced into India by the Portugese. The different species of Capsicum which were established in India, China and South Asia are the long and thin varieties of moderate pungency which are locally called “chillies”. The highly pungent varieties having small fruits also called chillies (bird chillies) are more common in Africa. The highly coloured, mildly pungent to sweet varieties known as “paprika” were developed in Europe.
