Spice Up Your Knowledge: Everything You Need to Know about Jalapenos

Where to start... This was a fun one for me. Being around jalapeno's my whole life, what more was there to know? It's green, it's spicy, my grandma cooks with it, boom bang... Turns out there's a lot I didn't know. This is also my first post so, give me some space, I'll get better with time. In this post I'll be going over, everything you need to know about Jalapeno's. So, let's go!

Species: Capsicum Annuum

Cultivar: Jalapeno

SHU: 4,000 - 8,500

Origin: Mexico

History:

The cultivation, consumption, and preservation of peppers in the America's by the indigenous population of Mesoamerica has been dated back thousands of years. Remnants found in caves in Oaxaca Valley, Mexico, lead some to believe to be evidence of peppers being used more than 6,000 years ago. In a book called the "Florentine Codex", written by Bernadino de Sahagun, a missionary priest who's titled as the world's, "first anthropologist". He was part of the Catholic evangelization or conquering/invasion/genocide of the Aztecs. Sahagun not only wrote about how he saw the pepper being sold in its raw state in Aztec markets, but also describes seeing its dried and smoked counterpart, the Chipotle. He describes seeing it used in different preparations and seeing Mole's made from Chipotles.

Basic Facts:

The jalapenos are a landrace that was first cultivated in Xalapa, Veracruz, Mexico which, is where its Spanish name comes from. Jalapeno, meaning "from Xalapa". Jalapeno's as we typically know them are usually green because they are picked before they mature. However, did you know that if a jalapeno is left on its vine to mature it can turn red, orange, or yellow depending on its variant. (We'll dive into that later.)

A raw generic jalapeno is about 4 calories and is comprised of about 92% water, 6% carbohydrates, 1% protein, and the last percentage is comprised of some fat, some sugars but, mainly minerals and vitamins. They're a good source of fiber and are high in vitamins C and B6.

Used for culinary purposes.

Gardening Tips:

Jalapenos love sun and warmer climates, growing well in temperatures ranging from 70 - 90 degrees Fahrenheit. They don't take up much growing space and can do well in pots which means these are suitable for urban gardens. However, once the plant meets maturity it'll need full sunlight to produce fruits. They take about 70 - 90 days to mature from seeds depending on the variety. These plants do not like to be over-watered, and it will negatively impact your plants. Like most plants, well-draining soil is preferred, but make sure that it doesn't drain too quickly. This allows your plant to gather the necessary water while draining the rest making sure water doesn't collect at the bottom of your pot, helping prevent root rot. Jalapenos with scars (Brown looking cracks on a jalapeno) are directly related to how spicy a jalapeno is. Typically, the more scars a jalapeno has, the spicier it is.

Variants:

Land Race: Jalapenos are a landrace.

F1 Hybrid (Filial 1 Hybrid): Definition: First filial generation of offspring of different parental types. The outcome of two different parental types creating a new, uniform phenotype, with characteristics of both parents. In plants, it's most often between two inbred lines and is hand pollinated in most cases. These jalapenos are used in genetics and selective breeding isolating ideal traits from their parents and creating a more uniform fruit with less variation throughout the plant. This is great for gardeners who want all their jalapenos looking the same. This is basically first-time hybrids of land race jalapenos to create a "better jalapeno". There are tons of these, so I'll go through a couple.

Mitla: One of the hottest jalapeno varieties, this plant produces dark green jalapeno's that change to a dark red when matured. It produces uniform fruit all season long and is very easy to grow. Best used in salsa's, salads, and hot pickle techniques.

Sayula: Created in 1998, this jalapeno hybrid has a higher resistance to BLS (Bacterial leaf spots: Bacterial disease that causes spots throughout the plants foliage. Can come from strains of Xanthomonus bacteria. Can spread through the plant and affect the fruit, potentially kill the plant. Very contagious in warmer climates.)

Senorita: This variety starts green, and turns to purple, then red as it matures. It's resistant to certain diseases including Panicum Mosaic Virus, Potato Virus Y, Tobacco Etch Virus, etc. These jalapenos are considered mild, only reaching around 5,000 SHU's and are best for people who only want a little spice.

Other variants: Perfecto, Tula, Torreon, Felicity, SVHJ5816, Jalafuego, Grande, Mammoth, Paquime Giant, Ixtapa X3R, Jedi, Mucho Nacho, Colossus, Pepper Emerald Fire, Imperial, El Jefe, Biker Billy, etc.

F2 Hybrid (Filial 2 Hybrid): F2 hybrids are created from the second generation of seeds from F1 hybrids that have breed with their brother/sister plants of the same generation. They're basically the seeds from an F1 hybrid listed above, so like the offspring of one of these. They only inherit 50% of the F1 hybrid's characteristics and are more unpredictable in their fruit production. These are desirable for their ease in pollinating, not needing to be hand pollinated and because they're cheap and cost-effective however, they don't produce as plentiful as the F1 hybrids.

There are also like F11 and F12, you get the point though.

Aside from that there are also a variety of sweet jalapeno hybrids which, are bred for their little to no heat but, great jalapeno flavor.

Health Benefits:

• Capsaicin in jalapeno's is an anti-inflammatory and analgesic reducing pain, swelling, and NSAID's without risk to your liver, kidneys, and stomach. Can also help eliminate chronic inflammation.

• They're also a great source of Vitamin C. They have some of the highest concentrations found in food, sometimes more that citrus fruit and leafy greens.

• Capsaicin and Capsaicinoids can boost your metabalism by 4-5% and have been found to help reduce abdominal fat and curve appetites, promoting weight loss.

• Act as a sinus decongestion.

• Promote Cardiovascular health and help reduce blood pressure, cholesterol, and stabilize blood sugars.

• Can help act as a blood thinner.

• Help prevent blood clots and stop bleeding in minor cuts and scrapes.

Dried Varieties (Chipotle Meco - Chipotle Morita):

Chipotle Meco: 

Name comes from the Nahuatl word "Chilpoctli"', which translates to smoked pepper. Also known as Chipotle Meco.

What is it?: A smoked and dried mature red jalapeno. Appearance is a brown/tan with hints of gray and slightly dusty looking surface.

Process: Jalapeños are green for most of the season until fall, which is the end of the growing season. The peppers intentionally left to naturally ripen and mature on the bush turn bright red and lose a significant amount of moisture. This is the ideal time to pick the peppers for the smoking process. Chipotles are made by using wood (Typically pecan but, can be whatever's available.) to smoke mature red jalapenos for six days in an open-air smoking installation with a temperature maintaining 65 - 75 degrees celsius. They're smoked for several days until most of the moisture is removed. The moisture content decreases down to 81% during the first three days and reaches 6% by the end. Traditionally, the peppers are moved into a closed smoking chamber and spread on some form of grill grates but nowadays, producers are using large gas dryers for its ease of use. Wood is put into a firebox, and the smoke enters the sealed second chamber (Similar to an offset smoker.) and are moved around every few hours making sure there's an even smoke on all sides. Typically, ten pounds of jalapeños make one pound of chipotles. In recent years, commercial producers switched to gas dryers and artificial smoke flavoring, which makes the process easier and quicker but, produces a less flavorful chipotle.

The smoking process can affect the structural, chemical, and nutritional properties of a jalapeno.

Chipotle Morita: 

Spanish name translates to "small mullberry". Primarily grown in the state of Chihuahua.

What is it?: Smoked and dried mature red jalapeno. Appearance is small, darker in color with a deep reddish/purple hue. Difference between the two versions is that the Chipotle Morita is smoked for a shorter period of time giving it less of a smoky flavor and allowing it to retain its slightly fruity flavor. More common in the US but, many find this chile as a second choice between the two, with the chipotle meco being favored.

Process: Same as the chipotle meco but, with a shorter smoking period.

That's it for now. Thank you for reading, if there's anything I forgot or if you have any feedback, please let me know in the comments