# Capsaicin in chili seeds (and plant body): isn't that counterproductive as a survival "strategy?"

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/capsaicin-in-chili-seeds-and-plant-body-isnt-that-counterproductive-as-a-survival-strategy/814794>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [May 25, 2018, 2:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/capsaicin-in-chili-seeds-and-plant-body-isnt-that-counterproductive-as-a-survival-strategy/814794 "2018-05-25T14:15:17Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 4\
**Page:** 2

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**Author:** ![Melbourne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b5e925/32.png) [@Melbourne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Melbourne)\
**Post date:** [May 30, 2018, 11:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/capsaicin-in-chili-seeds-and-plant-body-isnt-that-counterproductive-as-a-survival-strategy/814794/21 "2018-05-30T23:40:21Z")

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> [@gnoitall](#):
>
> Also, capsaicin seems to have fungicidal effect on fruit-spoiling fungi.

This.

Related:

When I was a boy, medical students were sometimes taught that consumption of large amounts of hot chilli pepper food by some groups in India probably caused higher than normal levels of stomach ulcers.

Now some medical students are taught that capsaicin seems to have an effect on Helicobacter pylori, and may be a reason why some groups in India with high levels of stomach ulcer incidence eat lots of very hot spices.

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**Author:** ![WotNot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e19b73/32.png) [@WotNot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WotNot)\
**Post date:** [May 31, 2018, 12:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/capsaicin-in-chili-seeds-and-plant-body-isnt-that-counterproductive-as-a-survival-strategy/814794/22 "2018-05-31T00:32:34Z")

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> [@Delayed\_Reflex](#):
>
> This makes me wonder about a tangential question - do animals learn about what certain visual indicators mean (eg. Thing that looks like chili pepper = spicy, or brightly coloured patterns = poisonous, etc) only through direct experience with the thing, or do they learn these things socially, or is it somehow instinctual? I am particularly interested in poisonous or venomous things - how do animals know to avoid them?

I believe it very much depends on the animal. Some learn about these things from message boards.

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**Author:** ![Section\_Maker\_Jupe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/section_maker_jupe/32/1424_2.png) [@Section\_Maker\_Jupe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Section_Maker_Jupe)\
**Post date:** [May 31, 2018, 12:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/capsaicin-in-chili-seeds-and-plant-body-isnt-that-counterproductive-as-a-survival-strategy/814794/23 "2018-05-31T00:55:26Z")

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I’ve been growing a chiltepin bush or “bird pepper” for about 5 years now, they can get quite old. Easy to grow, and fun to cook with, if one is carefull.

The 3/8 inch small chiles are very very hot, but my parrots aren’t bothered at all. The seeds germinate fairly easily, so I can see them rapidly spreading with bird help.  
Chiltepins are often called “The Mother of All Peppers.”

> **[Capsicum annuum var. glabriusculum](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Capsicum_annuum_var._glabriusculum)**
>
> Capsicum annuum var. glabriusculum is a variety of Capsicum annuum that is native to southern North America and northern South America. Common names include chiltepín, Indian pepper, chiltepe, and chile tepín, as well as turkey, bird’s eye, or simply bird peppers, due to their consumption and spread by wild birds, "unlike humans birds are impervious to the heat of peppers". Tepín is derived from a Nahuatl word meaning "flea". This variety is the most likely progenitor of the domesticated C. Chi...

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**Author:** ![Broomstick](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/broomstick/32/246_2.png) [@Broomstick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Broomstick)\
**Post date:** [May 31, 2018, 3:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/capsaicin-in-chili-seeds-and-plant-body-isnt-that-counterproductive-as-a-survival-strategy/814794/24 "2018-05-31T03:51:49Z")

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I can also affirm that my birds LOVE capsaicin peppers. They think they are bird candy. Especially the conures I’ve had, which are native to the areas where such peppers originate.

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