--Ethnic produce spotlight-- Name: Ají dulce Species: Capsicum chinense Ají dulce is a small, light green pepper that turns red if left long enough on the plant. In Puerto Rico, it is known as ají dulce or ajicito (sweet pepper and small pepper, respectively, in Spanish). In the Dominican Republic, it is also known as ají gustoso or ají cachucha (tasty pepper, and cap-shaped pepper, respectively, in Spanish). It has the shape and size of a habanero pepper without the intense heat. Unlike many other countries in Latin America, hot peppers are not commonly used in the cuisine of Puerto Rico, Dominican Republic, or Cuba. However, there can be some ají dulce fruit that is pungent, probably due to out-crossing. Production: Ají dulce grows well in the Northeast. One important difference compared to the production of C. annuum peppers is to start aji dulce earlier in the greenhouse, similar to other C. chinese such has habanero and scotch bonnet. Many sources of ají dulce from the Caribbean are infected with pepper mild mosaic virus (PMMoV). This virus will not cause a complete loss of yield, but it can decrease yields. A greater concern is the fact that the virus is seed-borne, so saving seed from infected plants is not recommended. Although the virus can spread from plant to plant through rigorous mechanical efforts, casual handling of infected fruit and seed followed by handling of non-infected seed does not transfer the virus to the clean seed. (photo from worldcrops.org)
Posted on: Tue, 19 Aug 2014 13:10:22 +0000