77
Use of Capsicum frutescens in
Weno, 201３年２月）
Romanum, and Piis islands, Chuuk Atoll, Federated States of Micronesia
南太平洋海域調査研究報告
No.53（OCCASIONAL PAPERS No.53（February 2013）

Use of Capsicum frutescens in Weno, Romanum, and Piis islands,
Chuuk Atoll, Federated States of Micronesia
YAMAMOTO Sota
Research Center for the Pacific Islands, Kagoshima University
Abstract
The local nomenclature and usage of Capsicum in Weno, Romanum, and Piis islands,
Chuuk Atoll, Federated States of Micronesia (FSM), were surveyed to investigate
the relationship between people and Capsicum with a focus on dispersal routes,
ethnobotany, and food security. Two species of Capsicum, C. annuum and C. frutescens,are cultivated in Chuuk Atoll, but C. frutescens, especially the green type, is a common
seasoning in the daily diet of locals and has become an important and indispensablecondiment. Capsicum peppers are called“mwik (mwiik)”in Chuuk Atoll, which is of
unknown origin. People used C. frutescens in various ways: as a condiment (fresh fruits
and fruits soaked in the water of mature coconuts), vegetable (leaves), and medicine(fruits and/or seed for treating toothaches, fruits for eliminating the stomach parasite
known as“nikanipwun”, roots for an ointment to treat skin wounds, fruits for treatingsick domestic fowl, and fruits for boosting energy of gamecocks after fighting).
However, with modernization, residents of Chuuk Atoll have been eating fewer C.
frutescens leaves in recent years. The FSM has faced serious public health problems
due to a new diet and other lifestyle changes especially from the 1980s, and thegovernment, non-governmental organizations, and many researchers have attempted
to promote a return to local foods because of their higher carotenoid and vitamincontents compared to modern foods. On small islands and atolls, imported foods andmedicines may not arrive for more than a month if a typhoon or an oil crisis occurs.
Therefore, for food security, it is imperative to re-discover plants already naturalizedon each island. From this perspective, an important candidate plant is C. frutescens,which can serve not only as a spice but also as a vegetable rich in carotenoids andvitamins. Capsicum frutescens has long been naturalized in these regions; therefore, itdoes not need to be cultivated and its fruits and leaves can be harvested throughout
the year. To improve public health on Pacific islands, there should be renewed focus
on plants that are already naturalized on each island.
Keywords: dispersal routes, ethnobotany, leaves as vegetable, local food, medicinal use,
naturalized plants

Introduction
Capsicum peppers, consisting of approximately 25 species belonging to the
Solanaceae family, are native to both tropical and temperate regions of the Americas(ESHBAUGH 1993). Capsicum frutescens is a semi-domesticated species characterized by

78
YAMAMOTO Sota

seed dormancy, small fruit size, deciduous fruit, and the inhibition of flowering under
prolonged illumination (YAMAMOTO and NAWATA 2006, 2009b, YAMAMOTO et al. 2007,2008). It is widely distributed throughout the tropical and subtropical regions of theworld.
Capsicum was introduced to Europe from the New World in 1493 by Columbus(BOSWELL 1949). After spreading through European countries in the early sixteenth
century, Capsicum was introduced to Asia in the late sixteenth century (ANDREWS
1995, KUMAZAWA et al. 1954, STURTEVANT 1885) and into Oceania during the early
European era (W HISTLER 1992a). However, its detailed dispersal routes remain
unknown. Many varieties of Capsicum annuum have been produced and distributed
around the world, making it difficult to reconstruct its dispersal routes, whereas
numerous local varieties of C. frutescens still exist in Asia and Oceania. YAMAMOTO andNAWATA (2004, 2005, 2009a) and YAMAMOTO et al. (2011) studied the distribution anddispersal routes of C. frutescens in Southeast and East Asia and found that accessions
from the Ryukyu Islands in Japan have a rare isozyme pattern, known as shikimate
dehydrogenase phenotype B (ShDH-B), and that this phenotype is distributed
throughout Taiwan, the Batanes Islands in the Philippines, Indonesia, Vanuatu, andEcuador, but not in continental Southeast Asia. The authors postulated that thisphenotype was introduced to the Philippines from the Americas via Oceania by the
Manila galleons (Spanish trading ships) in the mid-sixteenth century through to theearly nineteenth century, and thereafter dispersed into insular regions of Southeast
and East Asia. To further elucidate the dispersal and distribution of C. frutescens, it isnecessary to survey the distribution of the ShDH-B phenotype in Oceania. However,very few accessions of Capsicum have been collected from Oceania partly due to its
geography, which makes it difficult to access.
The Federated States of Micronesia (FSM) consists of four states (Yap, Chuuk,
Pohnpei, and Kosrae, from west to east) composed of approximately 600 small islands,
which amounts to only approximately 700 km 2. However, the FSM is spread overmore than 2,600,000 km2 of the Pacific Ocean and spans approximately 2,500 km fromeast to west. The FSM is considered to be one of the best regions for studying the
hypothetical dispersal routes of C. frutescens, from the Americas via Oceania to Asia,
because it lies along one of the routes used by the Manila galleons and spans manydegrees of longitude between Southeast Asia and the Americas. However, there isvery little information on Capsicum in the FSM, except for that published in a recent
study conducted in Pohnpei State (YAMAMOTO 2011).
In the 1950s, people in the FSM still ate a“traditional”diet (M URAI 1954), but
this began to be replaced by a modern diet rich in rice, flour, sugar, fatty foods, andother imported, processed foods after the United States Department of Agriculture
started its supplementary feeding program in the 1960s (ENGLBERGER et al. 2003). Thisphenomenon accelerated after a Compact of Free Association was signed between
FSM and the United States in 1986 (HEZEL 2004). Since then, FSM has faced serious
public health problems due to this new diet and other lifestyle changes, and thegovernment, non-governmental organizations (NGOs), and many researchers haveattempted to promote a return to local foods because of their higher carotenoid andvitamin contents compared to modern foods (e.g., ENGLBERGER et al. 2008, 2009). Even

79
Use of Capsicum frutescens in Weno, Romanum, and Piis islands, Chuuk Atoll, Federated States of Micronesia

though Capsicum did not originate in the FSM, it has been cultivated and consumed
there for about 400 years and thus it is reasonable to consider it a traditional local
food. Although the fruits and especially leaves of Capsicum are rich in carotenoids andvitamins (RESOURCES COUNCIL OF THE SCIENCE and TECHNOLOGY AGENCY 2001),
the importance of this plant as a nutritious local food in this region has been largely
overlooked.
In the present study, the local nomenclature, usage, and distribution of Capsicumin Chuuk Atoll were surveyed to investigate the relationship between people andCapsicum with a focus on dispersal routes, ethnobotany, and food security.
Study Site and Data Collection
Fieldwork was conducted over a month-long period in July and August 2011 on
the islands of Weno, Romanum, and Piis in Chuuk Atoll, Chuuk State, FSM. The work
consisted of interviewing locals and documenting local knowledge, use, and dispersalof Capsicum species. Figure 1 shows the study sites. A total of 76 people (34 males
and 42 females, including 38 from Weno, 19 from Romanum, and 19 from Piis) wereinterviewed regarding the local nomenclature and use of the genus Capsicum. These
interviews sought to capture taste perception of pungent Capsicum; knowledge of
weed forms of C. frutescens and bird behavior toward fruits of Capsicum; usage as acondiment, vegetable, and/or medicine; and popular beliefs, agricultural rituals, andtaboos related to this genus. The interviewees were aged 20 to 75 years old, with a
median age of 46. Chuukese words are given following GOODENOUGH and SUGITA (1990).
Results and Discussion
Local nomenclature for Capsicum and perception of pungent Capsicum in Chuuk Atoll
Two species of Capsicum are cultivated in Chuuk Atoll: C. annuum (two pungent
types, one with a long fruit and another with a round fruit; Fig. 1A) and C. frutescens(several pungent types of various sizes with a green or greenish-yellow color whenimmature; Fig. 1B). People on Weno Island who cultivate the C. annuum cultivars
reported that they bought seeds or seedlings at an agricultural institute. Sweet
peppers (paprika) and dried fruits of C. annuum, some of which were confirmed to beimported from the United States, are also sold in small stores, but this species seems
to be rarely cultivated on the three islands studied. In contrast, C. frutescens, especiallythe green type, is a common seasoning in the daily diet of locals and has become an
important and indispensable condiment in Chuuk Atoll.
Capsicum peppers are called“mwik (mwiik)”in Chuuk Atoll. Other regional names
include“t’eebil”in Yap State (JENSEN 1977) and“meringel”in Palau (JOSEPHS 1990),
both located to the west of Chuuk State, and all of these names are of unknown origin.
YAMAMOTO (2011) reported that local names for Capsicum in Pohnpei State, locatedto the east of Chuuk State, include“sele”and“jeli”, possibly derived from“chile”inSpanish or English. Local names such as“pwepuh”in Kosrae State (LEE 1976) and“peybah”or“pepah”in Marshall (ABO et al. 1976), both to the east of Pohnpei State,seem to be related to“pepper”in English or other languages. Further linguistic studies
in Micronesia may serve to elucidate the dispersal routes of Capsicum.
Among the 76 interviewees, 30 recognized only one kind of pungent Capsicum (Table

80
YAMAMOTO Sota

Federated
States ofMicronesia

Chuuk
Atoll

C
B

A

20km

A: Weno
●
●

●

●
●
●

●

●●
●
●
●

●
●

●

●
●
●

●

●
●

●
●
● ●

● ●

●

●
●

●

●

●

C: Piis

●
●

●

500m

●

●●

●
●
●

●● ●
● ●

●
●

●
●
●
●

B: Romanum

●
●

2km

●
●
●

●

●
● ●●
●

●
●

●
●

●

●

300m

Fig. 1 S
 tudy sites (◦) on Weno (A), Romanum (B), and Piis (C) islands, Chuuk Atoll,
Chuuk
State,
StatesMicronesia.
Fig. 1 StudysitesFederated(●) on Weno
(A),ofRomanum(B), and Piis (C) islands, Chuuk

Atoll, was
Chuuk
State, Federated
Statesof Micronesia.
1), whicha cultivarof C. frutescenswithsmall green fruits (Fig. 2B-1). The other46 interviewees recognized more than two types of pungent Capsicum with the highest
number being five types, although they did not have any specific names for each type.
Many people thought that the C. frutescens cultivar with small green fruits was native
to their region and that the other Capsicum peppers were introduced from the outside
after World War II, although YAMAMOTO (2011) revealed that at least two kinds ofC. frutescens, including that with greenish-yellow fruits, were found in Oceania before
1945 during a specimen survey at the Bishop Museum, Hawai’i. These results may
imply that people in Chuuk Atoll are more attached to the small fruits of C. frutescensin their local culture.
The 46 people who recognized more than two types of pungent Capsicum wereasked to comment on each pepper’s spiciness and smell, and which pepper they
preferred. Table 1 presents the results. Forty-three people considered C. frutescens to81
Use of Capsicum frutescens in Weno, Romanum, and Piis islands, Chuuk Atoll, Federated States of Micronesia

A－１

Ａ－２

Ｂ－１

Ｂ－２

Ｅ－１

Ｅ－２

Ｃ－１

Ｃ－２

Ｄ－１

Ｄ－２

Ｄ－３

Ｄ－４

Ｅ－３

Fig. 2 Use of Capsicum peppers on Weno, Romanum, and Piis islands, Chuuk Atoll.
A long fruit (A-1) and a round fruit (A-2) cultivar of C. annuum. A green immature fruit color
type (B-1) and a greenish-yellow type (B-2) of C. frutescens. A weed plant of C. frutescens
found growing in an abandoned car (C-1) and seedlings of C. frutescens in a small cup (C-2).
“Setifat”on Weno and“unuken”on Romanum (water, salt, and fruits of C. frutescens) (D-1),
raw fish mixed with a sauce made of C. frutescens, soy sauce, and lime juice (D-2), and using
the peppers as a stimulant (D-3: C. frutescens and salt; D-4: C. frutescens, salt, and lime
juice). Water of mature coconuts placed in the sun for fermentation (E-1) and C. frutescens
fruits soaked in such water, occasionally with garlic, also placed in the sun (E-2 and E-3).

13

5

30

Romanum

Piis

Total

21

5

5

11

2

25

9

1

15

76

19

19

38

more Total＊3

43 [GR:43, GY:0]

14 [GR:14, GY:0]

6 [GR: 6, GY:0]

23 [GR:23, GY:0]

C. f. ＊ 2

2

0

0

2

C. a. ＊ 2

Which fruits are hotter?

1

0

0

1

S＊2

31 [GR:30, GY:1]

11 [GR:11, GY:0]

2 [GR: 2, GY:0]

18 [GR:17, GY:1]

C. f.

9

2

2

5

C. a.

6

1

2

3

S

Which fruits smell better?

28 [GR:28, GY:0]

6 [GR: 6, GY:0]

4 [GR: 4, GY:0]

18 [GR:18, GY:0]

C. f.

11

3

2

6

S

15

69

Piis

Total

＊2

7

4

0

3

No

66

17

18

31

Yes

10

2

1

7

No

Do you know birds eat its
fruits?

46

7

15

24

Yes

30

12

4

14

No

Do you have its plants inyour home garden?

: questions for 46 people who had C. frutescens plants in their home garden.
: including transplantation from weedy forms in home garden or village.

19

Romanum

＊1

35

Weno

Yes

Do you know weedy formsof C. frutescens?

14

4

1

9

Seeds or plants fromvillagers

32

3

14

15

Weedy forms ＊ 2

How did you get the plants? ＊ 1

Table 2 Perception of weedy forms of C. frutescens and bird behavior toward fruits on Weno, Romanum, and Piis islands,
Chuuk Atoll.

＊2

7

5

0

2

C. a.

Which fruits do you prefer to eat?

Questions for 46 interviewees who knew several kinds of pungent Capsicum: people know only C. frutescens (small fruits of which immature fruit color was green).
: C.f.: C. frutescens, C.a.: C. annuum, and S: Same.
[] ＊ 3: GR: small fruits of which immature fruit color was green, GY: fruits of which immature fruit color was greenish yellow.

＊1

12

Weno

1＊1

How many kinds ofpungent Capsicum do
you know?

Table 1 Perception of pungent Capsicum on Weno, Romanum, and Piis islands, Chuuk Atoll.

82
YAMAMOTO Sota

83
Use of Capsicum frutescens in Weno, Romanum, and Piis islands, Chuuk Atoll, Federated States of Micronesia

be hotter, and all of these people reported that the small, green fruit type (GR) was
hotter than the greenish-yellow type (GY). Of the remaining three respondents, twosaid that C. annuum was hotter, and one reported that C. frutescens and C. annuum wereequally hot. Many people remarked that smaller fruits were much hotter. Regarding
smell, 31 people thought C. frutescens smelled better (GR: 30, GY: 1), nine thoughtthat C. annuum smelled better, and six thought there was no difference between thetwo species. As for preference, 28 people preferred to eat C. frutescens (GR: 28, GY:0), seven preferred C. annuum, and 11 had no preference. Those who preferred spicy
flavors tended to prefer C. frutescens, whereas others tended to prefer C. annuum or
GY type C. frutescens.
Weed forms of C. frutescens and bird behavior toward fruits
Weed forms of C. frutescens were found along forest edges and the roadside in
Chuuk Atoll (Fig. 2C-1). More than 85 % of interviewees had seen weed forms of C.
frutescens (Table 2) and knew of or had seen birds eating fruits of C. frutescens. Thesebirds included a species known as“anga”on Weno and Romanum or“mwii”on Piis
(Aplonis opaca subspp.), as well as the“chuko”(common domestic fowl) on three islands
and“nikeitopar”(Myzomela cardinalis subspp.) on Weno (the scientific names of thesebirds are taken from ENGBRING et al. (1990); Table 3). A common domestic fowl andbirds belonging to the genus Zosterops are known to disseminate seeds of C. frutescensin Pohnpei State (YAMAMOTO 2011), Japan (YAMAMOTO 2010a), Taiwan (YAMAMOTO
2009), the Batanes Islands, the Philippines (Y AMAMOTO 2010b), and Cambodia(YAMAMOTO and MATSUMOTO 2008).
Table 3 L ocal names for birds that eat fruits of C. frutescens on Weno,
Romanum, and Piis islands, Chuuk Atoll
Local name
Weno

Romanum

Piis＊

Peopleansweredanga (: Aplonis opaca subspp.) ＊23

chuko (: common domestic fowl)

17

nikeitopar (: Myzomela cardinalis subspp.) ＊4anga (: Aplonis opaca subspp) ＊18

chuko (: common domestic fowl)

8mwii (: Aplonis opaca subspp) ＊17

chuko (: common domestic fowl)

5referred to Engbring et al. (1990).

84
YAMAMOTO Sota

Use of C. frutescens on Weno, Romanum, and Piis islands, Chuuk Atoll
Fresh or dried fruits
Locals who preferred spicy flavors reported eating fresh C. frutescens fruits raw,
adding them to soups and canned meats or fish, and using them to make a dipping
sauce (a mix of fruits, salt, soy sauce, and lime juice, occasionally with garlic, onion,
and/or black pepper) for fish (Fig. 2D). Some people put only the fruits of Capsicum into
un-boiled water with salt (a dish called“setifat”on Weno or“unuken”on Romanum)and used it as a soup and/or dipping sauce (Fig. 2D-1). Several females noted eating
the peppers raw with salt and/or lime juice as a stimulant (Fig. 2D-3,4). People
throughout Chuuk Atoll appeared to use dried fruits only rarely, similar to people in
Pohnpei State (YAMAMOTO 2011) and the Batanes Islands (YAMAMOTO 2010b). Thisis likely because the relatively warm temperatures and generally plentiful rainfall
throughout the year in Chuuk Atoll enable people to collect fresh C. frutescens fruits
year-round.
Processed or preserved fruits
People in Chuuk Atoll soak Capsicum fruits, especially those of C. frutescens, in thewater of mature coconuts (Cocos nucifera). These are placed in the sun for several
days, and allowed to ferment and then sour (Fig. 2E), creating a spicy-sour condimentcalled“manakini”, which is then added to fresh fish, soup, and other dishes. People
in Pohnpei State (YAMAMOTO 2011) and Fiji (unpublished data) do this, suggestingthat this technique may be common throughout Oceania. People also soak fruits into
lime juice, but they thought it would be a recent technique in Chuuk Atoll, as sameas in Pohnpei State (YAMAMOTO 2011). On the Batanes Islands,“bagun”is madeby soaking C. frutescens peppers in“silam”(a sour vinegar made from sugarcane;
Y AMAMOTO and NAWATA 2009a), while in Cambodia one of the most importantelements of soaking fruits in liquid seems to be the sour taste (YAMAMOTO et al. 2011).
As noted by YAMAMOTO (2010b), it is unknown whether people in Southeast and East
Asia developed this spicy-sour flavor themselves or had widely adopted it after its
introduction from Europe. The same phenomenon was observed in Chuuk Atoll.
Use of leaves of C. frutescens
The leaves of Capsicum, especially C. frutescens, are used in soups and in mixes ofvegetables in Chuuk Atoll; in contrast, no one interviewed reported eating the roots
as a spice or vegetable. On Romanum and Piis islands, 15 of 19 people indicated thatthey still use Capsicum leaves for food (although this was not observed during thestudy period). On Weno, 19 of 38 people reported that they had not recently eaten theleaves (Table 4). The frequency of using leaves did not differ among the three islands(Table 4). YAMAMOTO (2011) reported that, in Pohnpei State, the frequency of using
the leaves is much higher in remote atolls, such as Mokil and Pingelap, than on themain island, Pohnpei Island. It is known that the lifestyle on Pohnpei Island was more
modernized than that on Mokil and Pingelap atolls (KAWAI et al. 2010), which seems tohave affected the use of C. frutescens leaves. In Chuuk Atoll, Weno is the main islandand is also more modernized, which may explain the decreased usage of leaves onthat island. YAMAMOTO (2009) reported that indigenous peoples of Taiwan used to add

85
Use of Capsicum frutescens in Weno, Romanum, and Piis islands, Chuuk Atoll, Federated States of Micronesia

Table 4 U
 se of leaves of C. frutescens on Weno, Romanum, and Piis islands, Chuuk
Atoll.
Use of leaves of C. frutescens
as vegetable

Frequency of use of leaves of C. frutescens per ＊ 2
Week

Month

Year

Yes

No

Total

Several
times

One
time

Several
times

One
time

Several
times

Weno

19 [SO:18, FR:4]

19

38

0

7

5

4

3

Romanum

15 [SO:15, FR:0]

4

19

0

1

2

4

8

Piis

15 [SO:13, FR:2]

4

19

0

4

1

7

4

Total

49 [SO:46, FR:6]

27

76

0

12

8

15

15

[]

＊1

: they used leaves for SO: soup and FR: fried vegetables. Results from multiple answer.
: questions for 49 people who eat leaves of C. frutescens.

＊2

C. frutescens leaves to gruel made of foxtail millet (Setaria italica) or maize (Zea mays),or to soup as a vegetable, but that today they seem to rarely use the leaves because
they can buy other vegetables at markets. These results suggest that the leaves of C.
frutescens may be used less in modern society.
Medicinal uses of Capsicum
When asked about medicinal uses of Capsicum, three people answered that thepeppers are used to treat toothaches. In other regions of Oceania, the fruits, seeds,
and leaves are used to treat various ailments: fruits for painful joints in Pohnpei
State (YAMAMOTO 2011); fruits for back pain (UHE 1974) and leaves and/or fruits forother pains (WHISTLER 1996) in Samoa; seeds for aching muscles and body pains in
Hawai’i (WHISTLER 1992a); fruits for sore throats in the Cook Islands (HOLDSWORTH
1990); fresh leaves for aching muscles and rheumatism in Vanuatu (BRADACS 2008);
red pepper juice as an analgesic for body pains and aches on the Admiralty Islands(HOLDSWORTH and WAMOI 1982); and fruits for aches and pains, especially chest pains,on New Britain Island (HOLDSWORTH 1992). Modern medical researchers have foundthat capsaicin, the pungent ingredient in hot peppers, has a long-lasting suppressive
effect on sensory neuron activity, and this compound is used to relieve pain caused byarthritis and pruritus in modern medicines (CRAFT and PORRECA 1992).
Some have claimed that eating Capsicum fruits eliminates the stomach parasite
known as“nikanipwun”, as previously reported for Pohnpei (Y AMAMOTO 2011).
Capsicum fruits are also used to treat stomach problems in Samoa (UHE 1974), Taiwan,
the Batanes Islands (YAMAMOTO and NAWATA 2009a), and Cambodia (YAMAMOTO etal. 2011).
Four people said that eating fruits or leaves is good for eyesight, as in Pohnpei
State (YAMAMOTO 2011). One person reported learning this information at a local
workshop. People in seventeenth-century Spain reportedly ate two roasted Capsicum
peppers after every meal to improve poor eyesight (NAJ 1992). However, indigenous
peoples in Taiwan and the Batanes Islands claim that consumption of too many

86
YAMAMOTO Sota

Capsicum fruits, apart from C. frutescens, could cause poor eyesight, which may berelated to a concept in Han Chinese traditional medicine (YAMAMOTO and NAWATA
2009a).
The leaves of Capsicum are often applied to boils or wounds in Tonga (WHISTER
1992b), Samoa (UHE 1974, COX 1993), the Cook Islands, Tahiti (WHISTER 1992a), andFiji (unpublished data). Although this remedy was not observed in Chuuk Atoll in thepresent study, the locals did report drying the roots of Capsicum and mixing them withcoconut oil to prepare an ointment for treating skin wounds. There is little informationon the medicinal use of Capsicum roots, but people in Cambodia and Taiwan use themas medicine (YAMAMOTO and MATSUMOTO 2008, YAMAMOTO 2009).
Other uses of Capsicum
People in Chuuk Atoll also give Capsicum fruits to gamecocks after fighting toboost their energy. A man in Weno also mentioned that a gamecock will perform
well if juice from the Capsicum pepper is placed on its spur. The use of Capsicum on
gamecocks has also been confirmed in Pohnpei State (YAMAMOTO 2011), the Batanes
Islands (YAMAMOTO 2010b), and Cambodia (YAMAMOTO and MATSUMOTO 2008). Someinterviewees reported that the fruits are also used to treat sick domestic fowl. Similar
practices have been reported in Pohnpei State, Taiwan, the Batanes Islands, and Japan(YAMAMOTO and NAWATA 2009a, YAMAMOTO 2010b, YAMAMOTO 2011).
Capsicum peppers have been found to play a role in popular beliefs, agriculturalrituals, and taboos in many areas of Southeast and East Asia (YAMAMOTO 2009, 2010a,
YAMAMOTO and MATSUMOTO 2008), and they are also used to produce rice malt andin rituals related to rice malt production (YAMAMOTO and MATSUMOTO 2008, YOSHIDA
1993). However, in the present survey, there was no evidence of any of these uses in
Chuuk Atoll.
Conclusion
Capsicum frutescens remains a very important spice, vegetable, medicine, andcultural resource in Chuuk Atoll. However, the present study suggests that its use
as a medicine is more limited in Chuuk Atoll than on other small and remote Pacificislands, such as Pohnpei (YAMAMOTO 2011) and the Batanes Islands (YAMAMOTO 2010).
Moreover, people in Chuuk Atoll have been eating less C. frutescens leaves in recent
years. In the FSM, the government and NGOs have encouraged people to cultivate
vegetables such as squash, cucumber, lettuce, tomato, and eggplant to improve publichealth, but the outlook for this project is bleak, partly due to local inexperience incultivating such crops. On small islands and atolls, imported foods and medicines may
not arrive for more than a month if a typhoon or an oil crisis occurs. Therefore, forfood security, it is imperative to re-discover plants already naturalized on each island.
From this perspective, an important candidate plant is C. frutescens, which can serve
not only as a spice but also as a vegetable rich in carotenoids and vitamins. Capsicum
frutescens has long been naturalized in these regions; therefore, it does not need to be
cultivated and its fruits and leaves can be harvested throughout the year. To improve
public health on Pacific islands, there should be renewed focus on plants that are
already naturalized on each island.

87
Use of Capsicum frutescens in Weno, Romanum, and Piis islands, Chuuk Atoll, Federated States of Micronesia

Acknowledgements
I am very grateful to all of the interviewees from Weno, Romanum, and Piis islands
for their great hospitality, kindness, and openness. I am also grateful to Mason Fritz,
Director of Chuuk Visitors Bureau, who helped me conduct research in Chuuk Atoll. I
wish to thank the following people for arranging my surveys in Chuuk Atoll: Neterik(Sally Poll) on Weno Island, Tomisian Tan on Romanum Island, and Benito Nereo
and Julian Kinoch on Piis Island. I could not have made efficient surveys without
their warmhearted and persevering help. This work was partly supported by theInternational Program of Collaborative Research, Center for Southeast Asian Studies,
Kyoto University.
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A NDREWS J. 1995. Peppers - the Domesticated Capsicums. New edition, 274pp.,
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