**4. Conclusions and perspectives**

Control of the capsaicin levels beyond a simple absence/presence trait is necessary. Producing pepper fruits with uniform and predictable levels of pungency is a challenge that needs further insight into the regulation of both the biosynthesis and the catabolic pathways of capsaicinoids. The knowledge of oxidation and conjugation pathways has not advanced much in the last two decades, probably because scientists paid little attention to them. On the other hand, genomic, transcriptomic, proteomic, and metabolomics studies have flourished in the last decade. Still, more molecular and physiological studies are required, particularly studies proving the function of

*Padrón Peppers, Some Are Hot, and Some Are Not DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.110435*

the genes by silenced lines or mutants if the recalcitrant nature of pepper for genetic transformation is overcome. There is room for improvement in our knowledge of these physiological processes, and basic science advances will lead to applied advances. Pungent compounds can be used not only as food but also can be useful in medicine as drugs or in agriculture as fungicides or pesticides [3, 23], and all these applications need a guarantee of stable supply.
