Peppers are a common ingredient Nigerians prefer to add to their daily meals.
There are different varieties of local chilli pepper such as shombo, ata ijosi and ose kiri kiri. These different varieties of local chilli pepper do not have the same degree of heat potency ( i.e. hotness).
This underscores the reason you would need to state exactly what you desire to do with the powdered chiili pepper you want supplied.

This can in no small way help the pepper processor determine the appropriate pepper variety to be used for your production.

Sourcing Peppers Locally
For processors in the powdered chilli pepper niche in Nigeria, it is very common that peppers are bought in bags from places such as the Middle Belt, Kano, Ebonyi and Kano.

Smart Practices among Good Pepper Processors
1. Choose pepper fruits that have been allowed to mature and have completely riped. The use of ripe peppers enhances the redness of the powdered chilli pepper produced.


2. Choose pepper fruits that do not have an unusual smell. This smell can be the result of using impure water for washing at the post harvest stage.

3. Ensure you are physically present at the point of purchase to inspect and prevent the inclusion of dirts or other undesirable particles.

4. Ensure you do not buy pepper fruits with a torn flesh. Practically, when the flesh of pepper fruits are torn; the seeds which give the pepper fruits its characteristic heat potency fall off. Making the final powdered chilli pepper produced to have an almost zero heat potency.


Uses of Pepper

1. Pepper is added when preparing meals and other food products because of its characteristic flavour.

2. Also, pepper is commonly added to food delicacies because of its heat potency.

3. Pepper is used as the major raw materials for producing pepper spray.

4. Pepper flavour can be industrially extracted and used in the pharmaceutical industry.

5. Pepper is used in the manufacture of wine.


Unsafe Practices Common among Pepper Processors

1. The deliberate milling of grinded kolanut with pepper. This makes the final mixture (impure pepper) to have an suspiciously attractive and reddish color.
This sort of product lacks the expected "hotness" expected of pepper and can make your meal experience a living hell, although this shameful practice helps criminal-minded processors make more profit.


2. Some processors deliberately ignore health concerns and go ahead with processing without sorting out the good peppers from the bad ones. Also some processors go ahead with their processing without paying attention to sieving. Sieving is so important because it helps to eliminate harmful physical hazards such as stones.


3. Nonchalant processors do not subject their pepper fruits to sufficient drying at a ideal temperature for a reasonable length of time.
Drying your pepper fruits helps to kill micro-organisms But, you must ensure the temperature of your drying device is expertly regulated in order not to produce a final powdered chilli pepper product which would have an unusually low nutritional value.


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