The chili pepper, or more simply just "chili", is the fruit of the plants from the Genus Capsicum and the nightshade family, Solanaceae. Chili peppers have been a part of the human diet in the Americas since at least 7500 BC and perhaps earlier. There is archaeological evidence at sites located in southwestern Ecuador that chili peppers were already well domesticated more than 6000 years ago, and is one of the first cultivated crops in the Americas. Chili peppers are thought to have been domesticated at least five times by prehistoric peoples in different parts of South and North America, from Peru in the south to Mexico in the north and parts of Colorado and New Mexico (Ancient Pueblo Peoples). Chili peppers are popular in food. They are rich in vitamin C and are believed to have many beneficial effects on health. From en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chili_pepper