[CH] Smithsonian article on chiles
Jonathan Smillie (jonathan.smillie@gmail.com)
Tue, 31 Mar 2009 12:13:02 -0400
Did anyone else see this article: "What's So Hot About Chili Peppers?"
in the April Smithsonian Magazine?
http://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/41384227.html
It's not your run-of-the-mill "here's a new hot pepper" article,
either... the gist of it is a profile of an ecologist who is doing
research into /why/ chiles are hot (not from a chemical perspective, but
from the viewpoint of capsaicin as an evolutionary advantage). He's
investigating the link between the presence of a fungal rot that is very
closely associated with wild chile plants, and the level of capsaicin in
the fruit - generally speaking, the more capsaicin the less fungus.
Could our favorite alkaloid be a naturally-selected defense mechanism to
preserve the fruit by making them unpalatable to natural enemies? And if
so, what does that say about us?
Jonathan