Anthracnose of Bhut Jolokia (King chilli) caused by Colletotrichum capsici in Meghalaya- a new report

摘要

Bhut Jolokia {Capsicum chinense Jacq) or King chilli was recognised by “Guinness Book of Record”,2007 as world hottest chilli with an astonishing heat level of 1,001,304 SHU (scoville heat unit), although some changes have been made in subsequent years. Bhut jolokia is considered as putative naturally occurring interspecific hybrid between the species C. chinense and C. frutescence (Bosland and Boral, 2007), grown extensively in entire north East (N.E.) India including Assam, Nagaland, Meghalaya, Mizoram and Manipur. The chilli is also known as Naga chilli (Naga jolokia), Oo-morok in Nagaland and Manipur, respectively. It is very much popular among the people of the region for its pungent fruit, unique fruit size (Plate 1. a) and is highly priced.Medicinal properties of Bhut jolokia have also been reported against asthma, gastro-intestinal abnormalities, toothache, muscle pain, arthritis and chronic indigestion problems (Bhagowati and Changkija, 2009), attributed to high capsaicin content of the fruits. King chilli are highly priced due to its tremendous medicinal properties and pungency.