Chilli is nature's wonder. Its fruit appears in different sizes, shapes and colour. The fruit size of some varieties is more than hundred times that of others. The shape may be elongated or round and distal pointed, blunt or sucked in. Corrugated, leathery or smooth maybe the touch on outer skin. It may look like a bird's eye or a small orange fruit. Colour varies from blue, green, orange, red, yellow, violet, cream white to near black.

Chilli has two important commercial qualities. If some varieties are famous for red colour because of the pigment capsanthin, others are known for biting pungency attributed by capsaicin. India is the only country rich in many varieties with different quality factors.

Chilli is an essential ingredient of India curry. Curry is characterised by tempting colour and titilating pungency. Both are contributed by chilli. In curry, chilli is used as a paste, powder, broken split or whole form. There are Indian pickles, especially with tender mango in which chilli powder is added lavishly to form a thick paste with biting sensation at the end of curing. In all Indian homes, chilli is used by the poor and the rich alike.

While consumption of chilli is the highest in India, maximum export is also from this country. India made the record export of 51,900 tonnes of dry chilli in 1996-97. Oleoresin of chilli with low, medium or high pungency is also exported in large quantities. Chilli powder is another important item of export. Indian chilli and its products are brought by a number of countries. Important among them are Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, South Korea and USA for dry chilli and USA, Germany, Japan, UK and France for oleoresin. India can supply chilli in whole, crushed, powder or oleoresin forms in consistent colour and required pungency.

Blessed with rich diversity in quality, Spices Board India has plans to produce specific varieties of Chillies for different international markets on committed demand, small or big.

Though, at one time, Americas most important contribution to the world of spices, chilli is today one of India's major export attractions. An annual plant, chilli comes in a wide variety of shapes, sizes, colours and in different degrees of pungency. It is thus variously called capsicum, paprika, pimento, sweet pepper, red pepper, cayenne pepper and bird's eye chilli depending on the type of chilli and the manner in which it is prepared and used. An indispensible culinary spice in several parts of the world, Indian chilli is grown largely in Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Tamilnadu and in a number of other states as a round-the-year crop. The medium pungent 'Sannam' and the mildly pungent 'Mundu' chillies are internationally recognised as the finest in quality. Products are available as powder and oleoresins. India also offers high capsaicin content chilli with or without stalks and with clipped stalks,and fresh and dried capsicum. Indian chilli is exported to USA, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, the Middle East and the Far East.