Pepper compound mighty against mould

摘要

Dried, ground cayenne peppers have been spicing up cuisine and have been used medicinally for thousands of years. But in just the last decade, U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Agricultural Research Service (ARS) microbiologist Anthony De Lucca and colleagues have reported evidence that cayenne pepper contains novel antifungal plant compounds within the saponin chemical family. As a result, in 2001 USD A-ARS patented a pepper saponin extract named "CAY-1" that has fungicidal properties.