IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/nat/nature/v412y2001i6845d10.1038_35086653.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Directed deterrence by capsaicin in chillies

Author

Listed:
  • Joshua J. Tewksbury

    (Center for Sustainable Environments, Northern Arizona University
    University of Montana
    University of Florida)

  • Gary P. Nabhan

    (Center for Sustainable Environments, Northern Arizona University)

Abstract

The primary function of ripe, fleshy fruit is to facilitate seed dispersal by attracting consumers1,2, yet many fruits contain unpleasant-tasting chemicals that deter consumption by vertebrates3. Here we investigate this paradox in the chilli (Capsicum) and find that capsaicin, the chemical responsible for the fruit's peppery heat4, selectively discourages vertebrate predators without deterring more effective seed dispersers.

Suggested Citation

  • Joshua J. Tewksbury & Gary P. Nabhan, 2001. "Directed deterrence by capsaicin in chillies," Nature, Nature, vol. 412(6845), pages 403-404, July.
    • Handle: RePEc:nat:nature:v:412:y:2001:i:6845:d:10.1038_35086653
    DOI: 10.1038/35086653
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.nature.com/articles/35086653
    File Function: Abstract
    Download Restriction: Access to the full text of the articles in this series is restricted.
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1038/35086653?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Theresa A Hill & Hamid Ashrafi & Sebastian Reyes-Chin-Wo & JiQiang Yao & Kevin Stoffel & Maria-Jose Truco & Alexander Kozik & Richard W Michelmore & Allen Van Deynze, 2013. "Characterization of Capsicum annuum Genetic Diversity and Population Structure Based on Parallel Polymorphism Discovery with a 30K Unigene Pepper GeneChip," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 8(2), pages 1-16, February.

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:nat:nature:v:412:y:2001:i:6845:d:10.1038_35086653. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    We have no bibliographic references for this item. You can help adding them by using this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Sonal Shukla or Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.nature.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.