Bell peppers come in green, orange, yellow, red, purple, chocolate, white and striped—truly making it possible to ‘eat the rainbow’!
Many cultivars of peppers exist, all of them originate from South America up to Mexico, were later imported to Europe and then were developed into various cultivars through time. One cultivar is the “Bell Pepper” (Capsicum annuum cultivar), which is a ‘bell shaped’ pepper, but not related to the true pepper genus (Piper).
Often the Bell Peppers are grouped with other less pungent peppers to be known as “sweet peppers”.
The red Bell Peppers have many times more beta-carotene and higher the vitamin C content compared to the green cultivars. Bell Peppers give more than the daily value for Vitamins A & C. They also are a good source of Vitamin E and contain Vitamin B6 and lutein, and are low in calories.
Interestingly, the Bell Pepper doesn’t produce capsaicin like many of the other peppers, which is the chemical that causes the pungent burning sensation of other peppers.
Bell Peppers can be enjoyed raw, cooked or roasted, and are used in a variety of dishes from salads, to dips and sauces.
One study investigated the development of an affordable and renewable plant-based immunomodulatory food ingredient based on Bell Pepper or Carrot rhamnogalacturonan-I pectic polysaccharides and found them to produce well tolerated and active products that could enhance innate immune responsiveness in vivo.
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*This content is for informational and educational purposes only. It is not intended to provide medical advice or to take the place of such advice or treatment from a personal physician.