Among the chilli cultivated in Nagaland, Naga King chilli (Capsicum chinense) occupies an important part in the state’s economy. It is traditionally cultivated in jhum fields along with rice. Naga King chilli is locally called ‘Naga mircha’. It is a sub shrub, short perennial with multiple dark green stems and grow to a height of 80 - 120 cm, bearing 60 - 250 fruits per plant. The length of leaf varies from 10.5 - 14.25cm with width ranging from 5.4 cm to 7.5 cm. The colour of the flower is yellowish green with pale blue anther. The fruits are berry, consisting of pericarp, placenta, seeds and dry cavity. The fruits are sub-conical to conical in shape, measuring 6.52 – 8.23 cm in length. The fruit surface is rough and uneven. A matured fruit weight up to 8.0-12.0 g and each contains about 33 – 53 number of light brown seeds.
Naga King chilli is also cultivated in
Assam and Manipur, bordering Nagaland. Although
King chilli, also called ‘Naga King chilli’, ‘Naga jolokia’, or ‘Bhut jolokia’,
originally reported as Capsicum
frutescens (Ritesh et al.,2000), later
on DNA tests established it as Capsicum
chinense with some C. frutescens genes
as well (Bosland and Baral, 2007).
Naga King chilli is considered the world’s
hottest chilli and has been entered in Guinness book of world records 2006. Due to its extra-ordinary pungency,
it is especially suitable for preparation of ‘Oleoresin capsicum’ as well as
extraction of capsaicin. Very high
capsaicin output per unit weight of dry powder makes it possible to lower down
the cost of extraction of capsaicin from Naga King chilli. Oleoresin powder extracted from Naga King chilli
is predicted to dominate markets in the coming years as the mainstay of riot
control. The general concept is that
lachrymatory compounds of organic products will be most acceptable from the
human rights point of view and environment friendly than synthetically produced
compounds like- CN (1-chloroacetaphenon), CS (O-chlorobazyladene malononitrile
and CR (Dibenz (b,f) 1, 4-oxozenepine, (Ritesh et al., 2000).
The Naga King chilli has a long-standing
association with ethno-agricultural activities of Naga people, in particular
the Kukis of southern Nagaland have an intimate familiarity with its
cultivation practices. The Naga people
have been using the King chilli to meet functional purposes such as making the
first ever biological weapon as a methodology to fend off enemies or using it
as a biological pest deterrent to smoke out fox and rodents from the fields,
are common practices by the locals. The
close relationship of the Naga people and the Naga King chilli has also sprouted
many folk tales surrounding the Naga King chilli and have been told as stories by
Naga elders to young children. There is
an interesting story of Naga King chilli
spreading over the entire region and finally landing up in Bangladesh,
the erstwhile Chittagong Hills of East Pakistan along with Naga freedom
fighters during 1970s.
In fact, recently conservationists
have turned to the Naga King chilli in hopes to address and reduce the impact of
human encroachment on Asiatic Elephant space by smearing the King chilli along
the fence of agricultural land to ward off Asiatic Elephants from attacking
agricultural crops in search of food. Thus,
hopefully, it may reduce the Human-Elephant conflict and preserve the
population of Asiatic Elephants.
As a
culinary ingredient, the Naga King chilli can be consumed either raw or in dried
forms and are widely used as a key ingredient in local Naga curries and pickles. Although the Naga King chilli is extremely hot, it has also been valued traditionally by the Naga people, for it’s medicinal properties such as providing soothing effects on the digestive system, relief from symptoms of colds, sore throats and fevers; helping in blood circulation, especially for cold hands and feet, and as a hangover remedy. They are also used as a heart stimulant which regulates blood flow and strengthens the arteries, possibly reducing heart attacks.