By as early as 7500 BC, Mexican Indians have gathered the fruits of Capsicum plants from their surroundings (“Capsicum Peppers”). The fruit (i.e. chili pepper) or fruit extracts were ingested as a food additive but it was also used for medicinal purposes as a topical agent (“Capsicum Peppers”). Asthma, coughs, sore throats and toothaches are some of the conditions that the substance was used to treat (“Capsicum Peppers”). In fact, the plant had become so important for their civilization that between 5200 and 3400 BC, they had succeeded at domesticating certain Capsicum plant varieties to increase supply (“Capsicum Peppers”).
When these Mexican Indians were discovered by Christopher Columbus in 1493 AD, he acquired samples of Capsicum seeds which he brought back with him to Spain, the emerging centre of spice trade (Govindarajan, 1985). Before long, chili peppers were exported from Spain to different parts of the planet and it eventually became a popular culinary spice in countries such as Thailand, India, Vietnam and Korea (Jing, 2010).
Their history as a food additive is widely popular even today but investigators are beginning to rediscover the efficacy of chili extracts to relieve arthritis pain, chronic back pain, rhinitis, etc. (Derry et al, 2009; Chrubasik et al, 2010; Ciabatti & D’Ascanio, 2009)
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