CAYENNE PEPPER: ITS NATURE AND 

 COMPOSITION. 



By C. F. JuRiTz, M.A., D.Sc, FT.C. 



(Snbniittcd at a Meeting of the Cape Chemical Society, on the 

 i^th May, ipio.) 



There are few aromatic condiments of greater culinary 

 importance than pepper, using that term in its two-fold signifi- 

 cation as apphcable both to the product of Piper nigrum, L., 

 and of the various species of Capsicum. The former of these. 

 of course, comprises what we popularly know as black pepper 

 and white pepper, while to the latter the name Cayenne pepper 

 is generally given. 



The quantity of pepper of all kinds annually imported into 

 British South Africa amounts to about 300,000 lbs. by weight, 

 with a money value of between £9,000 and £10,000. No dis- 

 crimination is made, in the annual statement of the South 

 African Customs Statistical Bureau, from which can be 

 gathered how much of this importation is Cayenne pepper, but 

 the probability would seem to be that it forms a comparatively 

 small proportion. 



In any case, however, while attempts are being made in this 

 country to develop agricultural industries along new lines, and 

 endeavours are in progress for the establishment on an in- 

 dustrial basis of such new cultures as cotton, there seems no 

 reason why the cultivation of chillies — which can be carried on 

 successfully under South African conditions — should not be 

 practised on a scale sufficiently extensive to provide for all the 

 needs of British South Africa in this respect, and even, maybe, 

 for the needs of transoceanic countries. 



In anticipation of any possibly extensive local cultivation of 

 chillies for the preparation of Cayenne pepper, it may be of 

 interest to enquire into the nature of the article that at present 

 enters the country under the latter name, especially as it has 

 happened ere now that the manufacture of a genuine article 

 within this Colony has been hampered by the importation from 

 abroad of what is alike cheap and spurious. It may therefore 

 be of service in some such connection to discuss the composi- 

 tion of Cayenne pepper, and to enumerate certain of its 

 characteristics. 



First of all it is important to settle what the term " Cayenne 

 Pepper " really covers. The following are the full definitions 

 of that term given by the chief authorities : — 



(i). " Ground pods of several species of Capsicum, usually C. anninim, L. 

 or C. fastigiatiim, Blum." — (Leffmann & Beam : " Food Analysis," p. 303.) 



(2). " Dried fruit of Capsicvim minimum." — (C. G. Moor : " Suggested 

 standards of purity for Food and Drugs," p. 80.) 



(3). " Ground berry and pods of Capsicum anniiitm." — (Battershall : 

 " Food adulteration and its detection," p. 247.) 



(4). " Obtained from Capsicum fastigiatiim, Bl. (C. minimum, Rokb.), 

 C frutescens and other small fruited species grown in various parts of Africa, 

 the East Indies, and tropical America." — (Winton : " IMicroscopy of Vege- 

 table Foods," p. 523.) 



