7 Capsicum

Dried ripe fruits of Capsicum annuum Solanaceae Known as chillies Perennial but grown as annual Varieties Sierra Leone Nyasaland Zanzibar

Cultivation & Collection  Perennial but grown as as an annual  Seeds sown at successive intervals to provide fruits throughout the year  Collected when fruits just begin to change color  Dried in sun

Description  Shape Ovoid conical pod Sometimes with calyx & pedicel attached Calyx cup shaped & has 5 teeth  Pericarp Glabrous , shrunken Orange red in color Divided by a membranous longitudinal disssepiment into two loculi with axile placentation

Description  Seeds Disc shaped Slightly pointed at proximal end where hilum & micropyle are situated  Testa Pale buff colored  Kernel Consists of abundant oily endosperm in which narrow coiled embryo embedded  Characteristic odor  Fiery pungent taste

Microscopy  Pericarp

Outer epidermis sub rectangular cells In 5 – 6 rows & Cuticularised  Mesocarp Parenchymatous Contain yellowish oily droplets Yellowish red chromatophores Occassionally sandy calcium oxalate crystals Small V.B towards inner region  Thin layer of very large cells  Endocarp cells with wavy walls Beneath most of the cells of large celled layer epidermal cells moderately thickened , pitted , & lignified forming island of sclerenchyma (one island under each large cell )

Dissepiment  Thin walled parenchyma  Each epidermal cell is developed as a secreting epithelium having thin walled polygonal tubular cells with prominent nucleus  Epidermal cuticle raised in bladdery patches below which oily droplets of crystalline capsaicin occur

Seeds  Lignified thickened epidermis  Endosperm

Constituents  Pungent principle Capsaicin  Ascorbic acid  Thiamine  Red carotenoids Capsanthin & Capsorubicin  Traces of starch in seeds

Uses  Externally       

stimulant & counter irritant Internally pungent stomachic , carminative , stimulant To dispel flatulence To increase appetite Source of Vitamin C Nerve stimulant Increase capillarity of blood vessels In rheumatoid arthritis