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What warms you up faster on a
cold winter day than a nice bowl of chili?
Personally, I like my chili very
spicy and that's done by adding an assortment of peppers and spices. Many people
know what makes peppers so hot: the heat comes from an accumulation of
capsaicinoids (which include capsaicin, dihydrocapsaicin, and
nordihydrocapsaicin). But researchers didn't know the process behind what gives
peppers their spice. That is, until now.
Recently, a team of scientists published the genome
of the hot pepper. The international group believes that studying the genome could
mean more efficient plant breeding and they are excited by the opportunity to
learn more about the evolutions and adaption of the pepper species.
Image Credit - Click here to see full gene description.
Hot pepper is a member of the
Solanaceae family . They are cousins to the potato and the tomato (spicy baked
potato pizza, anyone?) and related to eggplants, tobacco, and other self-pollinating
crops. According to one of
the study's co-authors, Allen Van Deynze, a director of research at the
University of California, Davis Seed
Biotechnology Center, "We have known for quite a long time about
capsaicins. We know why we can taste them and why birds can't taste them, and
we even know the gene that could turn it on and off, We just didn't know how it
was regulated."
That gene is called capsaicin synthase. Capsaicin
synthase can join in one of two pathways-one based on fatty acids,
and another one that determines color, flavor, and other traits
Ghost pepper photo credit: Asit K. ghosh Thaumaturgist
Quick poll - how many people
think Capsaicin synthase (CS) is found in the seeds? I know I did (probably
from watching too much Food Network). Turns out CS is found in the fruit of the
pepper, more specifically the white tissue that holds the seeds, known as the
placenta. CS biosynthesizes the capsaicin, and the Capsicum genus is the
only one that evolved to biosynthesize capsaicinoids. The study suggests
that the pungency of peppers was evolved through new genes by unequal
duplication of existing genes.
Hot pepper is one of the oldest
domesticated crops in the Western Hemisphere. It is quickly growing in
popularity, with world production increasing 40% in the last decade due to its
use in pharmaceuticals, coloring agents and defense repellents. The peppers
also provide many essential vitamins, minerals, and nutrients, gaining the attention
of many agribusiness companies that hold interest in plant breeding, such as Monsanto,
Syngenta, and Hortigenetics.
So my recommendation for staying
warm during these cold days is to add some hot peppers to your next meal!
Just make sure to drink milk instead of water if it gets too hot!
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