Chili pepper

Chili peppers, also spelled chile or chilli (from Classical Nahuatl chīlli [ˈt͡ʃiːlːi] ^ⓘ), are varieties of the berry-fruit of plants from the genus Capsicum, which are members of the nightshade family Solanaceae, cultivated for their pungency. Chili peppers are widely used in many cuisines as a spice to add "heat" to dishes. Capsaicin and related compounds known as capsaicinoids are the substances that give chili peppers their intensity when ingested or applied topically. Chili peppers exhibit a wide range of heat and flavors. This diversity is the reason behind the availability of different types of paprika and chili powder, each offering its own distinctive taste and heat level.

Chili peppers are believed to have originated somewhere in Central or South America and were first cultivated in Mexico. European explorers brought chili peppers back to the Old World in the late 16th century as part of the Columbian Exchange, which led to many cultivars of chili pepper spreading around the world and finding use in both food and traditional medicine. This led to a wide variety of cultivars, including the annuum species, with its glabriusculum variety and New Mexico cultivar group, and the species of baccatum, chinense, frutescens, and pubescens.

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 2019, the world's production of raw green chili peppers amounted to 38 million tons, with China producing half.