The jalapeno (about this sound listen)) is a medium-sized chili pepper pod type cultivar of the species capsicum annuum. A mature jalapeño fruit is 510 cm (24 in) long and hangs down with a round, firm, smooth flesh of 2538 mm (1.01.5 in) wide. It can have a range of pungency, with scoville heat units of 3,500 to 8,000. Commonly picked and consumed while still green, it is occasionally allowed to fully ripen and turn red, orange, or yellow. It is wider and generally milder than the similar serrano pepper. The chile pepper institute is known for developing colored variations.
The jalapeño is variously named huachinango, for the ripe red jalapeño, and chile gordo (meaning "fat chili pepper") also known as cuaresmeño.
Capsicum annuum places jalapeños as a distinct genetic clade with no close sisters that are not directly derived from jalapeños.
Try our jalapeno recipes and be healthy and enjoy.