Researchers have found that chili peppers have started to lose their hotness in the most important cultivation areas due to climate change.
Chili peppers have started to lose their heat in the most important cultivation areas, writes the financial publication Bloomberg.
Researchers suspect that climate change is related to the change in the taste of chili peppers. According to Bloomberg, finding ideal growing conditions for chiles is becoming increasingly difficult due to extreme weather events caused by climate change.
Agroecologist who wrote a book about chili crops Craig Kraft states, according to Bloomberg, that climate change has increased the number of floods and heavy rains in key chili cultivation areas. Moisture makes the chili peppers taste milder.
In China, for example, floods and typhoons have started to significantly affect chili crops. China is the world’s largest chili producer.
Chili is used as a spice in different parts of the world. According to the UN, the global market value of chili is more than nine billion dollars.
Chili peppers are the fruits of plants of the Capsicum genus, which vary in color, size and hotness. There are thousands of varieties of chilies. The most famous chiles are jalapeños and habaneros.
The hotness of chilies is due to capsaicinoids, especially the capsaicin compound. Chili grows at a temperature of 25-30 degrees and is very sensitive to weather changes.
According to researchers, chili is not the only ingredient whose taste changes as a result of climate change.
As heavy rains worsen, for example, the taste of coffee can become more bitter and coconuts tasteless.