DNA sequence analysis tells the truth of the origin, propagation, and evolution of chili (red pepper)  Hye Jeong Yang, Kyung Rhan Chung, Dae Young Kwon  Journal of Ethnic Foods  Volume 4, Issue 3, Pages 154-162 (September 2017) DOI: 10.1016/j.jef.2017.08.010 Copyright © 2017 Korea Food Research Institute Terms and Conditions

Fig. 1 Changes in the description of red peppers in Encyclopedia Britannica (2009.12.23) (http://www.britanica.com.) In this book they described the the chili as follows: ‘The pepper; Capsicum also called Garden pepper (Capsicum), any of a great number of plants of the nightshade family, Solanaceae, notably Capsicum annuum, C. frutescense, and C. boccatum, extensively cultivated throughout tropical Asia and equatorial America for their edible, pungent fruits.’ Journal of Ethnic Foods 2017 4, 154-162DOI: (10.1016/j.jef.2017.08.010) Copyright © 2017 Korea Food Research Institute Terms and Conditions

Fig. 2 Reconstructed phylogenetic tree for of eight plant genomes indicates their evolutionary relationships and estimated divergence times. The figure was adopted from the Figure 1a in the paper of Kim et al. (2017) [23], bioRxiv. http://biorxiv.org/content/early/2017/03/09/115410). The numbers in the figure and x-axis indicate the times of divergence in million years ago. Solanaceae first appeared 25 million years ago and split into eggplants (Solanum) and chilies (Capsicum) 19.6 million years ago. Later on, Solanaceae also split into tomatoes (Lycopersicon) and potatoes (Tuberosum) approximately 6.94 million years ago. This genetic analysis shows that the chilies which first appeared on Earth did not evolve at all for more than 15 million years, with more rapid evolution changes taking place over the last two million years. Journal of Ethnic Foods 2017 4, 154-162DOI: (10.1016/j.jef.2017.08.010) Copyright © 2017 Korea Food Research Institute Terms and Conditions

Fig. 3 The pictures of Solanaceae trees for Chili tree (kochu tree) (A), and for eggplant tree (B). If a chili is able to avoid frost and become perennial, it will lignify and become a chili tree. Even in Korea, a red pepper will grow into a pepper tree if it is kept in a greenhouse for a period of time (A). The same applies to eggplant trees from the same Solanaceae family (B). Picture of chili tree was provided from Chungnam Agricultural Technology Center. Journal of Ethnic Foods 2017 4, 154-162DOI: (10.1016/j.jef.2017.08.010) Copyright © 2017 Korea Food Research Institute Terms and Conditions

Fig. 4 Capsaicin, main substance of chili (A) and capsaicin receptor (TRPV1 receptor) through which capsaicin binds and mammals feel pungency (B). Because avian do not have a vaniloid receptor that accept capsaicin, birds can eat chilies and fly far away, then excreted chili seeds. Journal of Ethnic Foods 2017 4, 154-162DOI: (10.1016/j.jef.2017.08.010) Copyright © 2017 Korea Food Research Institute Terms and Conditions

Fig. 5 Parrot-like talking birds from Thailand (Common name hill myna; Gracula religiosa) that is capable of eating chilies and excreting chili seeds. The figure was provided by Thai Ambassador in Korea. Journal of Ethnic Foods 2017 4, 154-162DOI: (10.1016/j.jef.2017.08.010) Copyright © 2017 Korea Food Research Institute Terms and Conditions

Fig. 6 Reconstructed phylogenetic tree for chilies. The figure was adopted from the Figure 1a in the paper of Kim et al. (2017) [23], bioRxiv. http://biorxiv.org/content/early/2017/03/09/115410). The numbers in the figure and x-axis indicate the times of divergence in million years ago. It appears that chilies changed very little for the first 16 million years before evolving into different species between one and three million years ago. Genetic analysis of the chilies traditionally grown in Korea shows that there are two species which diverged 0.47 million years ago. It is clear that chilies first spread to Korea at least a million years ago. Korean red peppers are more genetically similar to those grown in Manchuria, Central Asia and Hungary than the spicy variety grown in Latin America. Journal of Ethnic Foods 2017 4, 154-162DOI: (10.1016/j.jef.2017.08.010) Copyright © 2017 Korea Food Research Institute Terms and Conditions

Fig. 7 Phylogenic diagram of chili evolution tree. Capsicum annuum (Korean chili) is located under evolved evolution tree left under site of evolution phylogenic tree, while mexican tree (aji) (Capsicum baccatum) positioned further progressed evolved tree right upper position. This is from the Figure 3 of the paper published in Annals of Botany [22]. This shows that Korean red peppers (Capsicum annum) did not evolve much further after splitting off 1.75 million years ago, while the spicy varieties grown in tropical regions evolved in more diverse ways). This means that red peppers evolved less in more temperate regions such as Korea, Turkey, China, Hungary and Manchuria, while other varieties that diverged from Capsicum and grew in tropical regions evolved into more diverse species. Latin American chilies cannot evolve into Korean chilies back over the span of a few hundred years. Journal of Ethnic Foods 2017 4, 154-162DOI: (10.1016/j.jef.2017.08.010) Copyright © 2017 Korea Food Research Institute Terms and Conditions