Feature Articles: Food, Fitness and Cooking and Produce
Grow Chilies Hot, Hot, Hot!
Robert Thomas, Information Specialist, Cooperative Media Group, University of Missouri |
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Chili pepper lovers can grow
their own peppers as hot as they can stand them in their
backyard garden.
“Chili peppers are relatively easy to grow and usually flourish in warm climates with relatively long growing seasons,” said David Trinklein, University of Missouri horticulturalist.
They prefer light, well-drained, fertile soil but can be produced in a wide range of soils. The plants are grown from seed and require six to eight weeks from seeding to transplanting outdoors.
“There is an increasing market for the really hot peppers, especially in larger cities where there are ethic markets,” he said.
Chili peppers often are classified by the degree of hotness and shape. The hotness, or heat, comes from capsaicin, an alkaloid compound found in the fruit seeds and surrounding tissue. The discomfort inflicted by capsaicin when chilies are consumed is thought to trigger the release of opioid compounds called endorphins in the brain. This reaction has been credited by some for the popularity of chili consumption.
There are 11 common categories of chili peppers, classified by their fruit shape and their heat.
The hottest chili commonly sold by most commercial bedding plant growers is the jalapeņo, which in terms of hotness is just a drop in the bucket compared to some of the fiery ones, Trinklein said.
Some of the super hot varieties include the habenaros, Scotch bonnet, the Thai types and Bhut Jolokia. The latter registers more than 1,000,000 units on the Scoville scale, which measures heat of chilies, compared with the jalapeno, which weighs in at a mere 5,000 to 10,000 units.
To produce the hottest peppers, start by selecting hot types of seeds and consider growing conditions. Peppers cultivated in a hot climate with days in the 95-degree range are spicier than those grown where temperatures are in the 70s. Drought-stricken chili peppers are hotter than those grown with lots of water. Keep the water and nitrogen fertilizer to a minimum for maximum heat.
Generally, the riper the chili, the hotter it is, he said. Use caution when handling hot peppers. Wear latex gloves when chopping and handling the really hot chilies.
Source: David Trinklein, 573-882-9631
Last update: Tuesday, May 05, 2009
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