Cambodia: Red chillies drying in the sun, Phnom Penh

The chilli pepper, or just chilli in many countries, is the fruit part of the genus of plants known as Capsicum, which in turn hail from the larger nightshade family known as Solanaceae. The name is derived from the Central-Mexican Nahuatl word chilli.

Though they are now grown throughout the world, chillies originally came from the Americas, before being shipped and traded worldwide after the Columbian Exchange that occurred following Christopher Columbus’ discovery of the Americas in 1492.

There are five domesticated species of chilli peppers grown around the world, with a multitude of varieties and sub-species within each. These various species and subsets of peppers are in turn broken down into three main categories with certain characteristics: bell peppers, hot peppers and sweet peppers.

Copyright:

CPA Media Co. Ltd.

Photographer:

David Henley

Credit:

Pictures From Asia