The history and origin of capsicum

Capsicum has its beginning since the beginning of civilizations. This genus is native to tropical and subtropical America in a wide region comprising Mexico and northern Central America, the Caribbean, the lowland Bolivia, the northern lowland Amazonia, and the mid-elevation southern Andes, where archaeological evidence suggests use of this spice crop since 6000 BC.

It is among the first plants domesticated in the Mesoamerican subcontinent. This plant has been used since ancient times as vegetable, natural colorant, and in traditional medicine.

Native Americans had grown chili plants between 5200 and 3400 BC. At this stage, several species have been domesticated to produce different cultivated types of pepper, comprising flavors from mild and sweet to hot and strongly pungent.

The pre-Columbian, indigenous Nahua (Aztec) Amerindian name for the plant was transcribed as chilli or chili, and the usual name in Spanish is chile, which results in the plurals of chillies, chilies, and chiles.

On his first voyage, Columbus encountered a plant whose fruit mimicked the pungency of the black pepper, Piper nigrum L. Columbus called it red pepper because the pods were red. In 1493, Peter Martyr (Anghiera 1493) wrote that Columbus brought home "pepper more pungent than that from the Caucasus."

In the sixteenth century, Capsicum annuum and Capsicum frutescens were widely distributed from the New World to other continents via Spanish and Portuguese traders while the other species are little distributed outside South America.

It was Fuchs, who proposed for the first time in 1543, the botanical term Capsicum, which was adopted later in 1753 by Linneo.

The name would be the Neolithic derivation of Greek “Capsa,” which refers to the peculiar shape of the fruit. The crop was firstly introduced in Europe by Christopher Columbus during his travels after the discovery of America in the fifteenth century and later spread to Africa and Asia.
The history and origin of capsicum

Capsicum: From the new world to Europe

Capsicum originated in Mexico, Central America, and South America. This genus of capsicum is native to tropical and subtropical America in a wide region comprising Mexico and northern Central America, the Caribbean, the lowland Bolivia, the northern lowland Amazonia, and the mid-elevation southern Andes, where archaeological evidence suggests use of this spice crop since 6000 BC.

Native Americans had grown chili plants between 5200 and 3400 BC. This places chilies among the oldest cultivated crops of the Americas. The genus Capsicum is one of the first plants being cultivated in the New World with beans.

Capsicum annuum and Capsicum frutescens were widely distributed from the New World to other continents via Spanish and Portuguese traders while the other species are little distributed outside South America.

In the Caribbean region where Christopher Columbus landed, the pods of the plant were called "ají," sometimes spelled "axí" or "agí" or "ajé" by early Spaniards. The crop was firstly introduced in Europe by Christopher Columbus during his travels after the discovery of America in the fifteenth century and later spread to Africa and Asia.

Early imported varieties belong to C. chinense which most probably were the most consumed during that time.

It spread to countries in Africa and Asia by way of the trade routes operating at that time. The fruit was traded initially as black pepper (Piper nigrum L.), a species with its own unique form of pungency but otherwise dissimilar in appearance and taxonomically unrelated to Capsicum. Peppers were named by Christopher Columbus and Spanish explorers who were searching for peppercorn plants to produce black pepper. Columbus took samples of a wide variety of peppers back to Europe where they became quite popular. For this reason, cultivated Capsicum acquired the common name ‘‘pepper.’’
Capsicum: From the new world to Europe