The history of the chili pepper is in some ways the history of humanity in the Americas, says Dr. Katherine Chiou, an assistant professor in the Department of Anthropology at The University of Alabama.
As a paleoethnobotanist, Chiou studies the long-term relationship between people and plants through archeological remains. In a paper published this week, Chiou outlines evidence that the domestication of Capsicum annum var. annum, the species responsible for most commercially available chilies, occurred in a different region of Mexico than has been previously believed.
"Typically, what has been preserved in Mexico are extraordinary circumstances like cave sites, for example, that are high and dry with conditions that allow for extraordinary preservation," Chiou said.
In the realm of domestication research, the assumption has been that the origin of a species' domestication is the area of greatest diversity. Preserved cave sites and the diversity of chili pepper varieties in the Tamaulipas region of Mexico have led to the assumption that it was the origin of Capsicum annum, the species that gives us the jalapeno, poblano, bell pepper, Thai chilies, and other commercially grown chili pepper varieties.
Read more at University of Alabama