Capsicum fruit, heat/color/flavor compounds

Heat, Color, and Flavor Compounds in Capsicum Fruit... 

The three key fruit quality traits, color, heat, and flavor, are independent characteristics. The color of a fruit does not predict the hotness, despite many consumers associating green peppers with no-heat bell peppers and red powder with hot cayenne chile. Hence in New Mexico, the state question is Red or Green to determine which version of the host s salsa or enchilada is hotter. From a phytochemical perspective the independence of these traits relates to the biosynthetic pathways for these compounds and the genes for both the structural and regulatory genes for those pathways. This review describes some of the recent advances in the analyses of the compounds, enzymes, and genes associated with color and flavor in Capsicum. 

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