ChilliStop.Com

(submitted By Mr Charles, Almanzora)
Hot peppers (Chili peppers) include a special ingredient called Capsaicin in their composition. Capsaicin is the particular ingredient which makes Chili peppers taste hot. Pure Capsaicin is a colorless and odorless crystalline compound.
In medicine Capsaicin is used in many OTC topical pain relievers, for example to control arthritic pains.

Topical Capsaicin helps to relieve the pain in the nerve endings near the surface of the skin. Capsaicin interrupts the action of molecules at the nerve endings, which affect how the brain recognizes pain, itch, and heat. If Capsaicin is removed, the nerve endings recover.

Studies show that Capsaicin can also help to reduce joint and muscle pains, associated with Psoriatic Arthritis.

Capsaicin also helps to alleviate the pains caused by shingles, post-surgery pains etc.

Capsaicin is also a component of pepper spray used for riot control. Capsaicin will cause severe burning if it gets onto skin of the face, into the eyes, onto the mucous membranes etc.

Capsaicin causes a person to feel heat on the skin where a topical cream with Capsaicin was applied. Capsaicin is applied onto the skin and then removed after the person starts to feel the sensation of the heat.

Capsaicin studies show that it may cause cancer (prostate cancer, lung cancer) cells to die.

Topical Capsaicin may be useful in treating psoriasis.

A double-blind placebo controlled study with around 200 people involved has shown that Capsaicin helps the redness, scaling and itching of the skin in the people with psoriasis, when compared with the effect of a placebo.

Two separate psoriasis studies showed that a 0.025% Capsaicin cream used topically decreased scaling and redness of the psoriatic plaques.

Some people say that eating Hot peppers (aka Chilli peppers, Cayenne peppers) also helps them to control their psoriasis. But not all people can eat spicy foods, i.e. Chilli peppers with Capsaicin, i.e. due to a heartburn etc.

Please check with your doctor before starting external or internal Capsaicin psoriasis treatment.

Query Asked by Jan From Albox
Flower drop (known to some as “blossom drop”) is a relatively common problem faced not only by chilli growers but by gardeners growing all kinds of fruit and vegetables. It happens when your plant flowers then each flower falls off without any fruit forming. There are a few possible causes and suggested remedies outlined below.
Lack of pollination
This is perhaps the most common cause of flower drop and is particularly prevalent when plants are grown inside or in a greenhouse. In these environments there is often a lack of flies, bees or butterflies to pollinate the plants. A simple and free solution is to do this manually by performing the pollination yourself.
To pollinate plants by hand simply get a cotton bud or fine paint brush (or a delicate finger tip will do!) and lightly rub it inside each of the flowers of a plant. Continue to do this once a day for a couple of weeks and you should soon start to see some fruit setting.
Over watering
Another cause of flower drop in chilli plants is over watering. If you think lack of pollination is not to blame then it may be worth scaling back your watering to maybe just twice a week (depending on the weather of course). In addition remember that some flow drop is natural so do not get too concerned if not all your flowers turn into blistering hot peppers.
Chilli plants, like any other are designed to produce seed that will get scattered by natural means and therefore multiply. If your plant already has a few chillies on that are ripe, be sure to pick them to encourage further fruit to set. If you leave chillies on a plant when ripe you may find that any new flowers drop failing to result in any new fruit as the plant uses it’s energy to maintain the fruit on the plant rather than produce any new chillies.