Review
Naga chilli: A potential source of capsaicinoids with broad-spectrum ethnopharmacological applications

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Abstract

Capsicum species are not only cultivated as vegetable and condiment crops but are also incorporated into a number of medicinal preparations in the ancient literature around the world. ‘Naga chilli’ or ‘Bhoot Jolokia’ (Capsicum chinense Jacq.) is a chilli variety indigenous to the northeast region of India and has been recognized as the hottest chilli in the world. It has also been used conventionally in treating various human ailments since time immemorial by the indigenous people of the northeast India. Despite being an important crop of the northeast India, the information on the biology and cultivation of Naga chilli is very scanty and scattered. The present article reviews the scientific literature on above aspects with particular emphasis on identifying the key regional issues which need to be addressed urgently by the policy makers in order to harness its potential as an important source of capsaicinoids. Further, an attempt has been made to collate the potential of capsaicinoids in various ethnopharmacological applications such as pain therapy, body temperature regulation, anti-obesity treatments, anticancer therapy and as antioxidant and antimicrobial agent. We anticipate that this literature analysis of traditional medicinal uses and experimental trials of Capsicum using modern scientific approaches shall provide a basis for suggesting important areas where sincere research efforts are warranted to bridge the gap between traditional medicinal knowledge and modern biomedical knowledge.

Graphical abstract

Ethnopharmacological potential of Naga chilli and mechanisms of capsaicinoid action.

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Introduction

Dietary spices are important ingredients commonly prescribed in Indian systems of medicine including Ayurveda, Siddha and Unani systems (Pruthi, 1976, Anon., 1994, Kochhar, 1996) and during the past years have received renewed attention for treating chronic and acute diseases. One of such dietary spice is the fruit of Capsicum chinense a source of the highly pungent capsacinoids and of antioxidants, which may play a role in preventing or reducing chronic and age-related diseases. The genus Capsicum (Solanaceae) consists of five domesticated species: Capsicum annuum L., Capsicum baccatum L., Capsicum chinense Jacq., Capsicum frutescens L. and Capsicum pubescens Ruiz & Pav as well as around 25 wild species (IBPGR, 1983). Capsicum annuum is one of the major vegetable and spice crops cultivated world wide. However, the ‘Naga chilli’, which is native to the northeastern part of India, has received the attention of world scientific community due to its extremely high pungency and unique aroma. It is known by various names in different regions such as ‘Bhoot jolokia’ or ‘Bih jolokia’ in Assam, ‘Naga king chilli’ in Nagaland, ‘Omorok’ in Manipur and ‘Ghost pepper’ by the western media. It is also known by the names, ‘Saga jolokia’, ‘Indian mystery chilli’ and ‘Indian rough chilli’ (after the chilli's rough skin). It has been acknowledged as the hottest chilli in the world (Guinness World Records, 2006). It has also been used conventionally by different ethnic communities of the northeastern India in treating various human ailments (Bhagowati and Changkija, 2009). In Nagaland, Capsicum spp. including Naga chilli are used to tone up body muscles after heavy workouts whereas hot infusions are used for toothache and muscle pain (Bhagowati and Changkija, 2009). Ethnobotanical literature around the world contains a wide array of information on traditional uses of different Capsicum species in treating various maladies (Table 1). The dried fruits of Capsicum frutescens are used by the ‘Garo’ ethnic community of Bangladesh in preparation of fermenting medium for their traditional liquor (Anisuzzaman and Rahman, 2007).

The extremely hot or burning sensation of chilli is due to the presence of capsaicinoids found only in Capsicum (Hoffman et al., 1983). The capsaicinoids present in the Capsicum fruit are predominantly capsaicin and dihydrocapsaicin (Fig. 1) making up 80–90%. The ratio of capsaicin to dihydrocapsaicin ranges between 1:1 and 2:1 (Govindarajan and Sathyanarayana, 1991). In northeastern India, the Naga chilli has been cultivated in a traditional manner since time immemorial and there exists a considerable amount of genetic variability among the landraces (Bhagowati and Changkija, 2009). The capsaicin content of fruits of Capsicum chinense has been found to be very high in comparison to the fruits of the other chilli species (Sanatombi and Sharma, 2008). The pharmaceutical applications of capsaicinoids are attributed to their analgesic, antiarthritic, anticancer, and antioxidant properties (Prasad et al., 2005). In fact, capsaicin has been at the centre of intense research for elucidating the basis of its pharmacological properties and exploiting the therapeutic potential (reviewed by Prasad et al., 2005). Capsaicin has become a promising molecule for the development of a new generation of analgesic-anti-inflammatory agents targeting the nociceptive primary afferent neurons (Szolcsanyi, 2003). It has also been reported to inhibit the growth of prostate cancer cells (Mori et al., 2006). The antioxidative capacity of chilli is higher than ginger, garlic, mint and onion (Shobana and Naidu, 2000), which may play an important role in the process of chemoprevention (Yu et al., 2002).

In the present review, we have carried out an in-depth literature analysis on the ethnopharmacological applications and the medicinal properties of Naga chilli. Further, we have discussed some of the key issues, which need to be addressed by the policy makers in order to harness its potential as an important source of capsaicinoids for various pharmacological applications.

Section snippets

The origin and the introduction of chilli into India

Capsicum is believed to have originated in the area bordered by the mountains of Southern Brazil to the east, by Bolivia to the west, and by Paraguay and Northern Argentina to the south. All the major domesticated species within the genus Capsicum are being cultivated in this area, which is reported to have the highest concentration of wild species of chilli in the world (DeWitt and Bosland, 1996). Heiser (1976) stated that between 5200 and 3400 B.C., the Native Americans were growing chilli

Chilli statistics: Indian scenario

India is the largest producer, consumer and exporter of chillies in the world. It contributes about 36% to global chilli production and exports about 20% of its total production (Karvy, 2008). According to the estimates of the Director General of Commercial Intelligence and Statistics (DGCI & S), Ministry of Commerce and Industry, Government of India, chillies were cultivated in an area of 880,000 ha with total production of 1,069,000 tonnes in the year 2001–2002. However, the production in

Naga chilli biology: general description of the plant

As per the description given in Geographical Indications Journal, cultivated Naga chilli (Capsicum chinense) is an erect bushy herbaceous (see Fig. 3, Fig. 4) annual plant that can attain a height of 129 cm. The fruit is sub-conical to conical in shape and about 2.50–2.95 cm wide at the shoulders and 5.95–8.54 cm in length; and may weigh 12–16 g. The skin is finely wrinkled and the flesh is thin (see Fig. 6, Fig. 7). It has a distinctive pungency and fruity aroma (Anon., 2008). Chilli is a

Hotness of Naga chilli

Most of the chilli species and varieties cultivated in India contain around 1% capsaicin but Naga chilli has around 2–4% capsaicin as reported by various researchers (Mathur et al., 2000, Sanatombi and Sharma, 2008). Consequently, a high capsaicin output per unit weight of dry powder lowers down the cost of extraction of capsaicin from this chilli. The Defence Research Laboratory, Tezpur, India reported the potential of the Naga chilli which outcompeted the Red Savina Habanero of Mexico in

Naga chilli cultivation in northeastern India and the major bottlenecks

The northeastern region of India, comprising of the states of Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland, Sikkim, and Tripura is located between 22–29.3°N and 89.7–97.8°E representing 8% of the total geographical area of the country. The agro-climatic conditions of the region are favourable for the cultivation of a wide range of horticultural crops including Naga chilli. The Naga chilli is mainly cultivated in Kohima, Peren, Mon and Dimapur areas in Nagaland as well as in

In pain therapy

It has been shown that the topical application of capsaicin can alleviate the pain sensations by selectively activating sensory neurons that convey information about noxious stimuli to the central nervous system (CNS). In various parts of the world, the leaves and fruits of Capsicum are reported to have application in treating painful menses (Dominican Republic: Estévez and Báez, 1998; Palestine: Jaradat, 2005; Eastern Nicaragua: Coe, 2008; Taiwan and the Batanes Islands: Yamamoto and Nawata,

Toxicity aspects of capsaicin and Capsicum extracts

Capsaicin as a natural and processed vegetable molecule has long been used as a part of human diet without causing any known adverse health effects. However in recent years, a number of toxicological studies have been performed on capsaicin and capsaicin-containing mixtures and contrasting results have been reported (Surh and Lee, 1995, Surh and Lee, 1996, Marques et al., 2002, Anon., 2007). In spite of the mounting evidence that during inflammatory conditions the density of TRPV1 expression is

Conclusions and future prospects

The Naga chilli is being cultivated in the northeastern region of India since time immemorial and the indigenous people have been using it in treating various maladies. As established from the literature reviewed in this paper, Naga chilli holds immense ethnopharmacological potential, apart from being a vegetable and a spice crop. Very high capsaicin output per unit weight of dry powder renders it possible to lower down the cost of extraction of capsaicin from chilli, thereby giving it an upper

Acknowledgements

We are grateful to anonymous reviewers for their constructive comments and thoughtful suggestions on the manuscript. Our gratitude also goes to Dr. Guruprasad Kalthur (KMC, Manipal) and to Dr. Reji Gopalakrishnan (DRL, Tezpur) for their kind, invaluable suggestions and copyediting of the manuscript. We apologize to all our colleagues whose studies could not be cited due to space limitation.

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