Description
The cayenne pepper is a type of Capsicum annuum. It is usually a moderately hot chili pepper used to flavor dishes. Cayenne peppers are a group of tapering, 10 to 25 cm long, generally skinny, mostly red-colored peppers, often with a curved tip and somewhat rippled skin, which hang from the bush as opposed to growing upright. Most varieties are generally rated at 30,000 to 50,000 Scoville units
Ground cayenne pepper is eight times hotter than chili powder. If your recipe calls for 2 tablespoons of chili powder and you use 2 tablespoons of cayenne pepper, you won’t make that mistake twice as cayenne pepper is pure heat. Your dish will be blazing hot but lack the other flavors provided by chili powder.
The capsaicin and other vitamins and minerals in peppers are known to fight GI pathogens, ulcerations and cancer. This being said, peppers also activate your circulatory system which aids in combating cold and flu by increasing the blood flow and speed of immune cells getting transported to sites of infection.
