The Cayenne pepper reference article from the English Wikipedia on 24-Jul-2004 (provided by Fixed Reference: snapshots of Wikipedia from wikipedia.org)

Cayenne pepper

The spice

Cayenne pepper is a very hot red powder used to flavour dishes. The powder comes from the dried fruit of various Capsicum pepper plants, especially C. frutescens. The name is derived from the Tupi word kyinha, literally "hot pepper."

It is used in cooking various spicy hot dishes. Cayenne is generally rated at 30,000 to 50,000 Scoville Units.

It is also used as an herbal supplement.

The plant

Cayenne pepper plants belong to the nightshade family, Solanaceae. Their scientific names are Capsicum baccatum and C. frutescens. They are usually ground up into a red powder, which is made by either powdering the dried fruits or by grinding and baking them into cakes, which are then ground and sifted to make the powder.

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