| | VEGETABLE BREEDER DEVELOPING MILD HABANERO (Site not responding. Last check: 2007-10-21) |
 | | The growing popularity of the habanero in the United States prompted Crosby to add the pepper to his breeding program two years ago, not so much to reduce its heat, but to provide growers with a better plant. |
 | | Crosby has crossed the Mexican habanero with wild habanero species from Bolivia and Colombia to develop a hardy plant that yields well, while maintaining the aroma, heat and other characteristics of the popular Mexican variety. |
 | | To do this, Crosby is crossbreeding the familiar Mexican habanero with South American varieties of the same species that are considered sweet because they have no hot capsaicin, the chemical that gives peppers their heat. |
| agnews.tamu.edu /dailynews/stories/HORT/Jun1801a.htm (501 words) |