Hot pepper, cayenne, and sweet peppers belong to the Solanaceae family. Apart from its usefulness in cooking, and in food preservation, the Capsicum genus is regarded as one of the most important healing agents in nature.
Bell peppers
Hot peppers contain a plant alkaloid called capsaicin. Capsaicin temporarily depletes "substance P", a chemical in nerves that transmits pain sensations. Without substance P, pain signals can't be sent. The effect is temporary. The amount of capsaicin varies with species, the sweet peppers (C. annum) have as low as 0.001 to 0.005 per cent in 'mild' and 0.1 per cent in 'hot', in chillies or cayenne (C. frutescens) up to one per cent, the hottest peppers (C. chinense cultivars), which include our Scotch Bonnets, have around two per cent.
Hotness is measured, where 15 Scoville units equals one ppm of capsaicin and capsaicinoids; C. chinense ranges around 200,000 to 300,000 Scoville units. Capsaicin produces the pungent taste and most of pepper's healing properties which include: appetite stimulant, carminative activities, digestive antiseptic, general systemic tonic and stimulant, rubefacient properties, blood cleansing, anti-microbial effects, circulatory tonic, pain killer, to treat psoriasis and diaphoretic activities. Scientific data are available.
METHODS OF USE
Hot pepper is available in dried powder form, up to one-quarter to one teaspoon of the ground powder could be stirred into any herbal infusion or milk, or used in making a teacup of an infusion, to be taken up to three times daily.
The ground powdered pepper could be spread on to a dish of soup, beans, rice, and so on, and taken with each meal. Hot pepper could equally be taken in capsule or tablet forms or could be extracted in alcohol as tinctures.
Hot pepper is added in most herbal formulae to enhance their efficacy - it acts as a carrier for other herbal active ingredients down to the parts of the body where they are needed. In addition, it catalyses the action of other herbs.
For external uses, hot pepper could be applied directly, but most often, cayenne tinctures or liniment are preferred for topical applications. Commercially, capsaicin cream is available for external usage.
Helicobacter pylori is a micro-organism which has been implicated as a causative agent in some cases of peptic ulcers. Apart from having healing and protective functions along the entire digestive tract, cayenne with its active ingredient also possess very high anti-microbial effects against any potentially-harmful bacteria found along the tract. Stirring into a glass of diluted lemon juice, pawpaw juice or fresh potato juice, one-half to one teaspoon of ground dried cayenne pepper and drinking this up to three times daily, is one of the most effective remedies for peptic ulcers.
Hot peppers tonify the digestive system, it helps in dispelling flatulence (gas), indigestion, heartburn. It corrects constipation and constant belching. Most importantly, hot pepper intake stimulates good digestion and appetite for foods. It prevents diarrhoea, vomiting, nausea and abdominal colic when taken in moderation. Begin with stirring small to moderate (that is, up to one-quarter or one-half teaspoon) doses of the pepper into one-half glass of milk, gradually increasing the dosage day-by-day that is, increasing the pepper and the quantity of the milk progressively until the desired result is achieved.
When hot pepper is used in combination with garlic, it helps in regulating high blood pressure and, assists in preventing stroke.
Patients with kidney problems should avoid the oral use of hot pepper. Capsaicin may irritate the mucous membrane that covers the kidneys since the excess in the blood is eliminated through the kidneys.
Dr. Sylvia Mitchell, scientific officer, Biotechnology Centre, University of the West Indies (UWI); email: smitchel@uwimona.edu.jm.
