The future need for the (bio) chemical and allied industries and their outputs is undeniable because they are directly connected to impending global megatrends in population rise, urbanisation, industrialisation, construction, health care and sanitation, food security and scarcity, and resource depletion.

However, we cannot continue to proceed with the (bio) chemical and manufacturing processes of the past, which rely on crude oil as a feedstock and are both resource-intensive and resource-depleting, and problematic at the end of their life cycle.

We need to adopt green and sustainable processes that are commensurate with circular rather than linear economies, do “more with less” and abide with the UN Sustainable Development Goals to achieve a sustainable twenty-first century. We need to explore the diversity of renewable feedstocks for their wealth of (bio) chemical applications. There is no shortage of renewable feedstocks, but simply a matter of selecting the right ones.

This book eloquently explores chilli peppers as an excellent example of a renewable feedstock rich in chemical complexity and natural products beneficial for health, food, cosmetics and other non-lethal applications. The book is written by eminent experts and will serve as a brilliant educational resource for both experts and non-experts on the wonders of chilli peppers. It brings together chemistry and biology and is an enabler for a sustainable twenty-first century.

Avtar S. Matharu

Professor of Green Chemistry

Deputy Director, Green Chemistry Centre of Excellence

University of York, York, UK

avtar.matharu@york.ac.uk