The Story of Pepper (Capsicum annuum)

Bell and chile peppers are Capsicum annuum. Habanero (C. chinense), Tabasco (C. frutescens), and black pepper (Piper) are other species.

How it was found

Kew maps C. annuum from the southern United States to Brazil and the Caribbean. The native list includes southern U.S. states such as Alabama, Arizona, Florida, Louisiana, and Texas, plus Mexico, Central America, the Caribbean, and northern and western South America (Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, Venezuela, the Guianas). The species is introduced widely in the Old World. USDA GRIN’s native table emphasizes Mexico, the southern U.S., the Caribbean, Central America, and Colombia, and notes the crop is widely cultivated.

UC Santa Cruz CASFS writes that C. annuum is thought to have originated with the wild chiltepin or chilipiquin in Bolivia and southern Brazil before the arrival of humans. UC Master Gardeners of San Diego County write that archaeological evidence points to the Amazon basin (regions now straddling Bolivia and Brazil) as the birthplace of the chile, and that roughly 7,000 years ago central Mexico became the epicenter of domestication. UCCE El Dorado adds that C. annuum and cousins C. frutescens and C. chinense are believed to have evolved from a common ancestor in South America.

In short, wild chiles came from South America, and people domesticated them in Mexico.

How people used it

Kew lists food and a food additive. UCCE San Bernardino writes that C. annuum is native to the Americas and that chiles are a traditional staple there with corn, beans, squash, potatoes, and quinoa. After European contact the fruit was transported abroad, and for more than five centuries varieties have been cultivated worldwide.

Kew also lists medicinal and poison uses.

Timeline

1. Before people in the Americas

   Wild chiltepin

   UC Santa Cruz CASFS (Orin Martin) writes that Capsicum annuum is thought to have originated with the wild chiltepin or chilipiquin in Bolivia and southern Brazil before the arrival of humans.

   UC Santa Cruz CASFS — Peppers From Sweet to Fiery

2. Roughly 7,000 years ago

   Central Mexico domestication

   UC Master Gardeners of San Diego County write that central Mexico became the epicenter of chile domestication roughly 7,000 years ago.

   UC Master Gardeners of San Diego County — Chiles’ Spicy Heritage

3. First European contact / five centuries

   Carried abroad

   UCCE San Bernardino Master Gardeners write that from the first European contact the fruit was transported abroad, and that for more than five centuries varieties of peppers have been cultivated worldwide. That is how a New World staple became a global kitchen crop — still C. annuum, still not black pepper.

   UCCE San Bernardino — Let’s Grow Chiles!

4. 1753

   Named in Species Plantarum

   Kew and USDA GRIN print Capsicum annuum L. in Species Plantarum (GRIN: Sp. pl. 1:188–189. 1753). Habanero and Tabasco belong to other Capsicum species.

   Kew POWO; USDA GRIN

5. Since World War II

   Sweet bells are a breeding product

   UC Santa Cruz CASFS writes that there is no such thing as a sweet pepper in the wild — they are a product of human-directed plant breeding — and that sweet bell peppers have “virtually exploded on the scene since World War II.” Mild fruit is recent. Hot fruit is the older garden story.

   UC Santa Cruz CASFS — Peppers From Sweet to Fiery

Cool to know

Growing notes for this plant live on the Plant Wiki.