Perhaps some remember the 100-mile diet concept of eating food that was produced in a 100-mile radius of your home. I am an infinite mile seed saver but most particularly interested in the vegetable and fruit seeds that are local to our region.
Recently at Almances Parisany in Melaque, I visited the bulk food bins and purchased samples of the dried chilis offered with the intent to conduct a seed viability test. A nice employee labeled everything for me so that I was talking jalapenos and jalapenos.
The chilis that germinated first were the chili ancho and the chili guajillo, and the chili puyo. The germination tests (totally unscientific) ran as 10 seeds of each variety of chili were place inside damp paper towels in a zip lock bag. Moisture was maintained in the bag which was opened every few days for an exchange of gases. The first sprouts (ancho) appeared after about 5 days.
Chili ancho had a 90% germination rate, the chili guajillo was 70%, and the chili puya germination rate was 50%. Chili ancho when green is used as stuffing chili e.g. chili relleno and dried is used in salsas, guisados, and soups. Chili guajillo when green is called chili chilaca or long green chili, similar to anaheim, it is used as stuffing chili, a general green vegetable when green, and when dried (chili guajillo) is liquefied into a sauce. The chili puya I have not yet tried but am told is used to make salsa and is similar to in flavor but hotter than the chili arbol which is often found blended in oil and used as a condiment in many local restaurants.
None of the other chilis germinated.
It has been common knowledge that plants grown from hybridized seeds will not grow true to form. That may or may not be true but probably not 100% true based on my experiences of growing out seeds. A chili guajillo seed that fell into my planter last year produced a plant with 25+ long green chilis. When purchasing seeds from a bulk container we have no way of knowing if they are hybrids or not so, just go for it.
Hopefully, as others in our gardening community explore and discover other viable seeds in our area, they will share the knowledge.