The Chile Pepper Institute at

New Mexico State University New Mexico State University (NMSU or NM State) is a public land-grant research university based primarily in Las Cruces, New Mexico. Founded in 1888, it is the oldest public institution of higher education in New Mexico and one of the state's tw ...

Las Cruces, New Mexico Las Cruces (; "the crosses") is the second-largest city in the U.S. state of New Mexico and the seat of Doña Ana County. As of the 2020 census the population was 111,385. Las Cruces is the largest city in both Doña Ana County and southern New ...

, is an international research-based and non-profit organization specializing in research, education and archiving information related to ''Capsicum'' or

chile pepper Chili peppers (also chile, chile pepper, chilli pepper, or chilli), from Nahuatl '' chīlli'' (), are varieties of the berry-fruit of plants from the genus ''Capsicum'', which are members of the nightshade family Solanaceae, cultivated for t ...

s. The institute was established in 1992 and is devoted to research and educating the world about

s. Its research facility is named for

Fabián García Dr. Fabián García (January 20, 1871 – August 6, 1948) was a Mexican-American horticulturist who has been described as "the father of the New Mexico, New Mexican food industry". Among other things, he helped to develop new varieties of chile ...

, a Mexican-American horticulturalist dubbed "the father of the U.S. chile pepper industry", who began standardizing varieties of chile pepper in 1888.

Overview

The Chile Pepper Institute is a research institute and is the only international organization that is devoted to the research, resource, and education of chile peppers. The institute helps and promotes the iconic and famous state vegetable of New Mexico. CPI is located in Las Cruces, New Mexico, on the campus of New Mexico State University, and research is conducted at the Fabian Garcia Horticultural Center, where it also showcases 100–200 varieties of chile pepper from around the world. Paul W. Bosland is the current director and the co-founder of The Chile Pepper Institute, who is also a professor of horticulture at New Mexico State University, where he leads the chile breeding and genetics research program. The Chile Pepper Institute is responsible for discovering the then world's hottest chile pepper, the

Bhut Jolokia The ghost pepper, also known as ''bhut jolokia'' (which literally means 'Bhutan pepper' in Assamese), is an interspecific hybrid chili pepper cultivated in Northeast India. It is a hybrid of ''Capsicum chinense'' and ''Capsicum frutescens''. ...

, led by Paul W. Bosland, and confirmed by the

Guinness World Records ''Guinness World Records'', known from its inception in 1955 until 1999 as ''The Guinness Book of Records'' and in previous United States editions as ''The Guinness Book of World Records'', is a reference book published annually, listing world ...

in the Fall of 2006. Many interesting records about chile peppers are discovered at the Chile Pepper Institute including the world's largest chile pepper, the Numex Big Jim specimen, that was developed in 1976 at

NMSU New Mexico State University (NMSU or NM State) is a public land-grant research university based primarily in Las Cruces, New Mexico. Founded in 1888, it is the oldest public institution of higher education in New Mexico and one of the state's tw ...

, and the recently released specimen chile pepper, NuMex Heritage 6-4, which is five times the flavor of a standard green chile. CPI also host different programs, events and conferences in local, national, and international levels. These include: * The Annual New Mexico Chile Conference * European Association for Plant Breeding Research (

EUCARPIA The European Association for Research on Plant Breeding, Europäische Gesellschaft für Züchtungsforschung, Association Européenne pour l'Amélioration des Plantes, Asociación Europea para el Mejoramiento de las Plantas, (in short EUCARPIA) is ...

) * Chile Pepper Institute Teaching Garden * The Annual Chile Conference * The International Pepper Conference * Agricultural Science Summer Undergraduate Research Education and Development Program (ASSURED Program)

Cultivars

The Chile Pepper Institute produces numerous pepper cultivars in unusual colors and shapes, such as the NuMex Twilight, a hybrid based on the Thai Ornamental pepper. The peppers of the Twilight start out white, turn purple, then move through yellow and orange, becoming red when fully ripe, producing a rainbow effect on the green plant. Other varieties, such as the NuMex Centennial and NuMex Easter move through other color ranges. The NuMex April Fools has bundles of purple peppers which point upward, resembling a

jester hat A jester, court jester, fool or joker was a member of the household of a nobleman or a monarch employed to entertain guests during the medieval and Renaissance eras. Jesters were also itinerant performers who entertained common folk at fairs and ...

References

External links

Official website
* * {{authority control New Mexico State University Chili peppers Food science institutes Las Cruces, New Mexico 1992 establishments in New Mexico Research institutes established in 1992