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| chili peppers |
Chili peppers are usually red, yellow or green. There are hundreds of different types of chili peppers that vary in size, shape, colour, flavour and ‘hotness.’
Chili peppers belong to the family of plants bearing the Latin name Capsicum (Solanaceae). To the Igbo it is called ose. The Yoruba call it atare, while to the Hausa it is borkunu.
Some local studies have linked the high consumption of different types of chili peppers by the Yoruba tribe to their high life expectancy (number of years lived in good health). It is said that the Yoruba use at least five different types of chili pepper in making a stew or soup.
Before now, several studies have found chili peppers to lower risk of type 2 diabetes, prevent stomach ulcers, help stop prostate cancer, boost immunity, clear congestion, boost heart health, induce pain relief, fight inflammation, and trigger weight loss.
But recent researches have demonstrated how the basic ingredient in chili peppers, capsaicin, may cause weight loss and fight fat build-up by triggering certain beneficial protein changes in the body.
Researchers have also shown how chilli pepper-rich diet can prevent breast cancer and fight microbes. The researchers suggest that the discoveries could lead to new treatments for obesity, cancer and drug-resistant microbes.
Capsaicin (trans-8-methyl-N-vanillyl-6-nonenamide) is a principal pungent ingredient of hot red and chili peppers. It has been shown that the hotter the chili pepper, the more capsaicin it contains.
Nigerian researchers have determined the capsaicin content and pungency level of five different peppers grown in Nigeria.
The researchers from the National Research Institute for Chemical Technology, Zaria, and the Department of Chemistry, Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, Kaduna State found that yellow pepper (Capsicum chinense), obtained from Nsukka, the South Eastern part of Nigeria is the most pungent of the peppers studied.
According to the study published recently in New York Science Journal, “all the peppers analyzed in this study can be classified as very highly pungent as the Scoville Heat Unit (SHU) values exceed 80,000, except the tatase, Zaria (Capsicum annuum) which has a mean SHU value of 19,015.20. This implies that all the pepper varieties studied, with the exception of the tatase can serve as potential sources of capsaicin.”
Laboratory studies have hinted that capsaicin may help fight obesity by decreasing calorie intake, shrinking fat tissue, and lowering fat levels in the blood. Nobody, however, knows exactly how capsaicin might trigger such beneficial effects.
Until now, researches have shown that obesity is a major public health threat worldwide, linked to diabetes, high blood pressure, heart disease, and other health problems.
According to a study published in Journal of Proteome Research, Jong Won Yun and colleagues at Daegu University, Korea, fed high-fat diets with or without capsaicin to lab rats used to study obesity. The capsaicin-treated rats lost eight per cent of their body weight and showed changes in levels of at least 20 key proteins found in fats. The altered proteins work to break down fats.
The scientists say: “These changes provide valuable new molecular insights into the mechanism of the anti-obesity effects of capsaicin.”
Nigerian researchers have also shown that capsaicin is a cancer-suppressing agent. Researchers at the Department of Veterinary Physiology, Biochemistry and Pharmacology, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, University of Ibadan, Oyo State found that capsaicin blocks the translocation of nuclear factor kappa B (NF-kB), activator protein 1 (AP-1), and signal transducer and activator of transcription (STAT3) signaling pathway that are required for carcinogenesis.
The study titled “Capsaicin: A novel chemo-preventive molecule and its underlying molecular mechanisms of action” was published in Indian Journal of Cancer.
Oyagbemi A. A., Saba A. B., and Azeez O. I. wrote: “Capsaicin also generates reactive oxygen species in cells with resultant induction of apoptosis and cell cycle arrest, which is beneficial for cancer chemoprevention. Therefore, the use of capsaicin as a chemo-preventive agent is of immense benefit for cancer chemoprevention.”
United States researchers at the Division of Hematology/Oncology, Cedars-Sinai Medical Centre, University of California Los Angeles (UCLA) School of Medicine, have demonstrated how capsaicin inhibited the growth of breast cancer.
The study published in Oncogene is titled “Capsaicin causes cell-cycle arrest and apoptosis in ER-positive and -negative breast cancer cells by modulating the EGFR/HER-2 pathway.”
Breast cancers that are estrogen-receptor-positive (ER-positive) are those that have estrogen receptors present on many of the cancer cells. Estrogen receptors are protein molecules that bind to the hormone, estrogen. ER-positive cancers rely on a source of estrogen to encourage proliferation (increase the number) of cancer cells. About 60 per cent of all breast cancers are ER-positive. Breast cancers that do not possess estrogen receptors are estrogen receptor-negative. Unfortunately ER-negative breast cancers are more aggressive and unresponsive to treatments.
The researchers wrote: “We examined the activity of capsaicin on breast cancer cells in vitro (outside a living environment) and in vivo (inside a living environment). The drug potently inhibited growth of ER-positive (MCF-7, T47D, BT-474) and ER-negative (SKBR-3, MDA-MB231) breast cancer cell lines…
“Notably, capsaicin blocked breast cancer cell migration in vitro and decreased by 50 per cent the size of breast cancer tumors growing orthotopically in immuno-deficient mice without noticeable drug side effects…Besides, capsaicin potently inhibited the development of pre-neoplastic abnormal proliferation of cells) breast lesions by up to 80 per cent without evidence of toxicity.
“Our data indicate that capsaicin is a novel modulator in both ER-positive and -negative breast cancer cells with a potential role in the treatment and prevention of human breast cancer.”
Nigerian researchers have also found that a chilli pepper-rich suya sauce, Yaji, has strong antimicrobial activity. The study titled “Antimicrobial Potentials of Yaji-Spices: The Constituents of a Complex Nigerian Suya Meat Sauce Inducing Histological Investigations” was published in the Internet Journal of Alternative Medicine.
The researchers from Ambrose Ali University and Abia State University found that the widely consumed Nigerian suya meat sauce called Yaji is a complex mixture of salt, ginger, clove, red pepper and black pepper, all of which, on individual basis, have established antimicrobial properties.
Yaji is a complex mixture of groundnut powder, additives, spices and salt. The spices in Yaji are ginger, cloves, red pepper, and black pepper, while the common additive other than salt, is Maggi.
Historically, the name ‘Yaji’ was an adaptation of the name of a 14th century Hausa ruler called “Yaji (meaning the ‘hot one’)”.
The researchers wrote: “Capsicum baccatum, Capsicum chinese, Capsicum frutescens and Capsicum pubescens varieties were tested for their antimicrobial effects with 15 bacterial species and one yeast specie. Two pungent compounds found in Capsicum species (capsaicin and dihydrocapsaicin) were also tested for their antimicrobial effects. The plain and heated extracts were found to exhibit varying degrees of inhibition against Bacillus cereus, Bacillus subtilis, Clostridium sporogenes, Clostridium tetani, and Streptococcus pyogenes.
“Capsicum extracts were shown to be growth-inhibitory on three of the 16 microbial species tested. Clostridium species are common anaerobic bacteria often found in soil, sewage, aquatic sediments and decaying organic matter, as well as in the intestines of animals. Clostridium tetani is the bacterium responsible for Tetanus and Clostridium botulinum (not tested) causes Botulism.
“Streptococcus pyogenes is the central pathogen identified in a variety of cutaneous and systemic infections. Thus, capsicum extracts do appear to have some valuable antimicrobial activity. In fact, a later study has shown that Capsaicin strongly inhibits the growth of Bacillus subtilis.”
Tetanus (also called lockjaw) is a preventable disease that affects the muscles and nerves, usually due to a contaminated wound. Botulism also known as botulinus intoxication is a rare but serious paralytic illness caused by botulinum toxin, which is produced by the bacterium Clostridium botulinum under anaerobic conditions.
