food Marketing - Technology 2/2023

Ingredients
Variety of Chilies:
Something for Every Taste
Anyone who enjoys spicy food likes to reach for chili peppers. But not all chilies are the same: there are
countless chili varieties and offshoots. They differ in color, shape, taste and degree of spiciness. Hotness
is measured on a scale of 0 to 10, or in Scoville units, which range from 0 to the millions. Chili peppers are
therefore very rich in variation, and their range of application in the kitchen and in the food industry is also
diverse. In dried form, chili peppers are used to spice up seasonings, frozen foods and convenience foods.
In addition, chili peppers are an important ingredient in many sauces and pastes. Import Promotion Desk
(IPD), a project of the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development, supports
chili producers from South America in bringing their products to the European market. One of them is the
company “Uchu Spice” from Ecuador, which specializes in the cultivation and production of a wide range of
chili varieties.
Hot peppers
Both chili peppers and sweet peppers
are descended from the bell pepper
plant genus (Capsicum). Chili peppers
grow on shrubby plants that can reach
a height of up to one and a half feet. We
usually call the fruit a pod, even though
botanically it is a berry. Chili peppers
are rich in vitamins – especially vitamin
C and B1.
The best known characteristic of the
chili pepper is its spiciness. However,
it not only dominates the taste, it also
has an antibacterial effect. Capsaicin
and other substances in the flesh of the
fruit are responsible for the spiciness
of chili. A particularly high proportion
of capsaicin is found in the placenta, i.e.
in the somewhat lighter flesh to which
the seeds are attached. The seeds, on
food Marketing & Technology • April 2023
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Key No. 102618