Pepper, chili

The chili pepper is the fruit of plants from the genus Capsicum which are members of the nightshade family, Solanaceae. Chili peppers are widely used in many cuisines as a spice to add heat to dishes. The substances that give chili peppers their intensity when ingested or applied topically are capsaicin and related compounds known as capsaicinoids.

Chili peppers originated in Mexico. After the Columbian Exchange, many cultivars of chili pepper spread across the world, used for both food and traditional medicine.

Cultivars grown in North America and Europe are believed to all derive from Capsicum annuum, and have white, yellow, red or purple to black fruits. In 2016, world production of raw green chili peppers was 34.5 million tonnes, with China producing half of the world total.

Chili pepper Nutrition Facts: Calories, Carbs, and Health Benefits

The composition of chili pepper is 88.02% water, 8.81% carbohydrates, 1.87% protein, 1.5% dietary fiber, and 0.44% fat. If you consume one chili pepper it will provide you with 3.965 grams of carbohydrates. That translates to 3.05 percent of the 130 grams of carbohydrates people should include in their daily diet. That same in an amount measuring 100 grams (3.5 Oz), chili pepper provides 166 kilojoules (40 kilocalories) of energy and is a very rich source of Vitamin C (ascorbic acid) and Vitamin B6 (pyridoxine) (191.6% and 38.92% of the Daily Value, respectively). This means that if you add chili peppers in your diet it will help your body to absorb iron from food and defend itself more naturally since vitamin C is an antioxidant, reduce probability of heart disease by fighting cholesterol, reduce the risk of anemia as this vitamin absorbs iron and will be effective against gout (a type of arthritis) attacks by reducing blood uric acid levelsdementia since vitamin C impacts memory positivelyhigh blood pressure. With this it contains a good amount of Copper (14.33% DV) and Manganese (10.39% DV).