 Thus, natural selection may have led to increasing capsaicin production because it makes the plant less likely to be eaten by animals that do not help it disperse.There is also evidence that capsaicin may have evolved as an anti-fungal agent.The fungal pathogen "Fusarium", which is known to infect wild chilies and thereby reduce seed viability, is deterred by capsaicin, which thus limits this form of predispersal seed mortality.