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Unknown Peruvian jungle pepper found in the amazon - Aji Maqusari

jonnyb

jonnyb

I've just been to a town in the Peruvian amazon jungle and found a curious looking yellow hot pepper that I had never seen before. They are yellow wrinkled unpredictable shaped about 1/2" to 3/4" long and about 1/3" -1/2" wide. I found in the Belén market, where the lady wrote down the name as Aji Maqusari. A google search yielded 0 results. Anyone heard of this before? I bought a pack of them and have extracted seeds from them

They are similar tasting to the Aji Charapitas they have there, a wild jungle chilli, maybe a little more fruity but distinctly different in appearance. So maybe another frutescens?

Will post some pictures when I get onto a proper computer (at the airport in lima on my mobile)
 
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If you have any of those old seeds left i hope you've spread some around to dedicated growers in your (or our) community.
It'd be a shame to lose a strain due to a holiday or loss of interest of one person.
 
please know this isn't sarcasm or a personal dig. but there are a number of people here who can definitely do a dedicated isolation grow to increase seed stock. 
 
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Im planning to send some seeds to Joy from sea spring seeds, here is the UK. Shes a great chilli expert and my favourite Chilli company here. Additionally, is there a part of the forum that has a seeds exchange? I have a few other rare Peruvian, Ecuadorian and Panamanian chilli seeds from my travels, although the Maqusari is the only one that seems to be undocumented.
 
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There is a buy/sell/trade in the classified section of the forum. If you're interested in an organized group grow you could start a glog and offer seed out to a group. Crowd sourcing the grow. usually people will keep in touch, post pics and of course send you back seeds if you are interested.
 
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Looks nothing like the Aji Limos ive seen in Peru or grown here in UK. Aji Limo ripens red with some purpling in the immature stage, and a lot bigger and pointed. These are small, yellow and knobbly oval shaped with different flavour. Both Chinense though.
Aji Maqusari
B99ACBD4-2434-4F7C-A7D9-FA9837C47A19.jpeg

Aji Limo
F4B78202-2BA0-43D3-9970-F30327A8D4EF.jpeg
 
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The yellow pods you have there, aji maqusari look a lot like aji mochero pods from Northern coastal Peru.

The second pic you have there, with the multicolored pods, is most definitely aji arnaucho, which is a close cousin of the aji limo.

Here is a link to a PDF of a Peruvian book describing the most well known regional peppers throughout Peru.

https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&url=http://www.lamolina.edu.pe/hortalizas/webdocs/ajiesdelPeru.pdf&ved=2ahUKEwj2rI7jgMTbAhUMqlkKHZyTCoUQFjAAegQICBAB&usg=AOvVaw2p4T9fmtfMmFMDMUzcb3Q1
 
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Really interesting pdf! Thanks for that. Very interesting to see the main varieties they use, although ive Heard they have more than 200 varieties, most of which are probably regional and uncommon. The Aji Limo photo above does indeed look a lot like the Arnaucho variety in the book but a bit longer and more pointed,in the book they look like the ones I found in Cusco. That photo is from a breeder called Seaspring seeds so Im not sure where the seeds are derived from. I bought Arnaucho Ajis in Lima and they look similar but quite a lot smaller and more squat.I remember them as pretty mild, whereas Seasprings variety was reasonably hot at 35,000 SHU. See my photo below.
D284E39D-2B6E-4594-AF7F-6988EF2BCB62.jpeg

Also, Aji Mochero is much longer and larger and tasted different, actually much less flavour than the Arnaucho, so I didnt save the seeds, but it might also be the way they were grown.
I am growing my Arnaucho seeds now and the plants look the same as the Limo, probably, at the least the genetics are very similar. The leaves are slightly Lime green with strong stalks.
Aji Maqusari left and Aji Arnaucho right.
A4C01EB0-D280-4D5F-9053-B78E0C2475C3.jpeg

Both ripen teventually to red but go through that partially purple immature phase. However I wouldnt be surprised if they had different colours or even varieties named as the same, as the genetics control is possibly not so strict. I have certainly seen several varieties of Labelled Aji Amarillo and Aji Panca in Peru.
 
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Here is an aji limo, aji mochero, and aji arnaucho plant that I grew last year. The aji limo and aji arnaucho seeds were sourced in Peru. The aji mochero seeds were sourced from a fellow member of THP.

Just like it says in the PDF of the book I linked in my previous post, aji arnaucho amd aji limo are very similar, but aji arnaucho has shorter shorter, stubbier, and fatter pods. Aji limo has elongated thinner pods, compared to aji arnaucho.

Based on personal experience, aji arnaucho is much seedier that aji limo, which is probably why chefs in Peru lean more towards aji limo, when making ceviche. The flavor of both is really similar, though.
 

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Thegreenchilemonster said:
Here is an aji limo, aji mochero, and aji arnaucho plant that I grew last year. The aji limo and aji arnaucho seeds were sourced in Peru. The aji mochero seeds were sourced from a fellow member of THP.

Just like it says in the PDF of the book I linked in my previous post, aji arnaucho amd aji limo are very similar, but aji arnaucho has shorter shorter, stubbier, and fatter pods. Aji limo has elongated thinner pods, compared to aji arnaucho.

Based on personal experience, aji arnaucho is much seedier that aji limo, which is probably why chefs in Peru lean more towards aji limo, when making ceviche. The flavor of both is really similar, though.
Click to expand...
 
This is definitely off-topic, but I can't help but admire those plants. They look like monster producers. I'd guess that's mostly in the hands of the grower though.
 
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Fantastic plants! Your Arnaucho is a real stunner. I hope mine looks that good. Yes I just got round to reading that they are similar, but your Arnaucho does look just like the Aji limo from Seaspring Seeds. I cant wait to see how mine come out. Im hoping that the aeroponics setup will speed the process along. Going well so far although Im a late starter with those two.
 
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Very nice Mochero, how is the taste? I probably should have kept some seeds after all!

Back on topic, I found another picture of the Maqusari chillies st the same Market online by searching Belen Market chillies into google. It is a stock photo owned by Alamy
6EEB6EC8-E582-4335-8F6A-343F86E3DC81.jpeg


The red ones in front look like Pipi de Mono, Maqusari behind then, some orange variety that I didnt see there.
 
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and another photo (2nd from the right)
76CEDDEA-E3B0-423F-80D9-C679D64C81A2.jpeg



I really wish I was there when they had this selection!!! The pink variety looks like Aji Ayucllo from the book. Im guessing probably related to the Brazilian Cheiro Roxa (Iquitos is very close to the Brazilian border). I want to go back there now! Haha, only 6000 miles away.
 
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jonnyb said:
Very nice Mochero, how is the taste? I probably should have kept some seeds after all!

Back on topic, I found another picture of the Maqusari chillies st the same Market online by searching Belen Market chillies into google. It is a stock photo owned by Alamy 6EEB6EC8-E582-4335-8F6A-343F86E3DC81.jpeg

The red ones in front look like Pipi de Mono, Maqusari behind then, some orange variety that I didnt see there.
Click to expand...
The aji maqusari look a lot smaller than an aji mochero would, when compared to other peppers for scale on that table. The ones to the right are definitely pipi de mono. You can also clearly see some aji charapita pods on the left of the table, in the second pic.

I wonder what those small orange ones are, to the left of the aji maqusari in the first pic.
 
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A quick update.
Its about a month from the last pictures in the aeroponics. They grew so quickly im Impressed. Although my fog (ultrasonic) transducer ceased up so Switched to standard hydroponics as a DWC system with bubbler.
In the orange container is the Aji Maqusari, and the 10L mop bucket houses the Aji Arnaucho (I had to split them up as they were fighting for space). The Maqusari has flowers now, and the Arnaucho has tiny buds that Im concerned might be immature. Perhaps the Nitrogen in my hydroponic solution is too high. Next time I change solution I will add some PK boost to encourage blooming.
18349410-7000-4351-BE61-3B9023D88988.jpeg

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The Maqusari is approximately 26 inches tall (not bad as they were barely 3 inches one month ago) and the Arnaucho looks similar, maybe more. I will keep the Maqusari alone inside so the seed will be isolated.
The Arnaucho will be moved outside when my solar cell arrives to run the micro bubbler off grid.
 
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Nice looking pod there!

Another update. The Aji Maqusari has grown like crazy in the conservatory now almost 3ft tall (34) from the base of the stem, and is in a flowering frenzy right now but im struggling to hand pollinate them as they are inside the house and the flowers are tiny, with not much loose pollen to transfer (typical for small Chinese types). I have definitely pollinated one so far at least! (Hurrah) so hopefully I will have some cloned seeds soon.

here is the Maqusari:
6300C87F-38A5-439F-924E-CC45C7EE895A.jpeg


The Aji Arnaucho has been switched to soil finally and moved outside as directed by my other half. It is the only one in my front garden so I am hoping the seeds of this one will be a pure strain as well. Its still a little limp from adjusting to soil from hydro, but otherwise looks healthy. No flowers yet.

Arnaucho:
7208C03C-1D63-4B97-ABC8-75EDF36C28B0.jpeg
 
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