Page 30 - Pharmacognosy-II (06-PG 303)

Capsicum

It is the dried ripe fruits of Capsicum frutescens L. family Solanaceae.

Synonyms : Chillies
Macroscopic characters :

The fruit is berry, ovoid-conical in shape about 15-25 mm long and 5-
8 mm wide, abruptly tapering at the base where the calyx and pedicel may be
attached. Pricarp : orange-red, translucent, glabrous and leathery.

The fruit is divided into two loculi by a membranous, longitudinal
dissepiment, each loculus containing five to ten seeds, loose or attached to
the dissepiment.

Capsicum have characteristic odor and pungent, taste strongly
sternutatory and irritant to skin and mucous membranes.
Organoleptic properties:
Odour: slight, characteristic; taste: extremely fiery and pungent, strongly
sternutatory and irritant to skin and mucous membranes
Microscopic characteristics:
Epicarp: a single layer of sub-rectangular cells, often arranged in rows of five
to seven, with thickened outer walls and a striated cuticle.
Mesocarp: thin-walled, consisting of five to ten layers of parenchyma
containing yellowish-red oily droplets, with occasional cells containing
microsphenoidal crystals of calcium oxalate and an innermost layer of giant
cells filled with oil globules.
Endocarp: a single layer composed of sclereids with unevenly thickened and
pitted walls ar¬ranged in groups under the cavities of the giant cells of the
mesocarp, and separated by thin-walled, unlignified parenchyma.

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