bell pepper

Red, yellow, and green bell peppers.

Bell pepper, also known as sweet pepper or a pepper (in the United Kingdom) and capsicum (in Australia and New Zealand), is a cultivar group of the species Capsicum annuum (chili pepper). Cultivars of the plant produce fruits in different colors, including red, yellow, orange and green. Bell peppers are sometimes grouped with less pungent pepper varieties as "sweet peppers". Peppers are native to Mexico, Central America and northern South America. Pepper seeds were later carried to Spain in 1493 and from there spread to other European, African and Asian countries. Today, China is the world's largest pepper producer, followed by Mexico.

Nomenclature

The misleading name "pepper" (pimiento in Spanish) was given by Christopher Columbus upon bringing the plant back to Europe. At that time peppercorns, the fruit of Piper nigrum, an unrelated plant originating from India, were a highly prized condiment; the name "pepper" was at that time applied in Europe to all known spices with a hot and pungent taste and so naturally extended to the newly discovered Capsicum genus. The most commonly used alternative name of the plant family, "chili", is of Central American origin. Bell peppers are botanically fruits, but are generally considered in culinary contexts to be vegetables.

While the bell pepper is a member of the Capsicum genus, it is the only Capsicum apart from Capsicum rhomboideum that does not produce capsaicin,^[1] a lipophilic chemical that can cause a strong burning sensation when it comes in contact with mucous membranes. The lack of capsaicin in bell peppers is due to a recessive form of a gene that eliminates capsaicin and, consequently, the "hot" taste usually associated with the rest of the Capsicum genus.^[2]

The terms "bell pepper", "pepper" or in Australia and New Zealand "capsicum", are often used for any of the large bell shaped fruits, regardless of their color. In British English, the fruit is simply referred to as a "pepper", or additionally by color (as in the term "green pepper", for example), whereas in many Commonwealth of Nations countries, such as India and Malaysia, they are called "bell peppers". Across Europe, the term "paprika", which has its roots in the word for pepper, is used—sometimes referred to by their color (e.g., "groene paprika", "gele paprika", in Dutch, which are green and yellow, respectively). Paprika also refers to the powdered spice made from the fruits in the Capsicum genus.^[3] In France, it is called "poivron", with the same root as "poivre" (meaning "pepper"), or "piment". In Korea, the word 피망 ("pimang" from the French) refers to green bell peppers, whereas 파프리카 ("papurika" from paprika) refers to bell peppers of other colors.

Varieties

The color can be green, red, yellow, orange and more rarely, white, rainbow (between stages of ripening) and purple, depending on the variety of pepper. Red, yellow, and orange peppers all come from different seeds and are different cultivars of pepper. Red peppers are simply ripened green peppers.^[4] Green peppers are less sweet and slightly more bitter than yellow or orange peppers, with red bell peppers being the sweetest. The taste of ripe peppers can also vary with growing conditions and post-harvest storage treatment; the sweetest are fruit allowed to ripen fully on the plant in full sunshine, while fruit harvested green and after-ripened in storage are less sweet.

Nutritional value

Compared to green peppers, red peppers have more vitamins and nutrients and contain the antioxidant lycopene. The level of carotene, like lycopene, is nine times higher in red peppers. Red peppers have twice the vitamin C content of green peppers.^[5] Also, one large red bell pepper contains 209 mg of vitamin C, which is three times the 70 mg of an average orange.

Production

Bell and Chile pepper production (metric tons)^[6]

Country	2004	2005	2006	2007
China	12,031,031	12,530,180	13,031,000	14,033,000
Mexico	1,431,258	1,617,264	1,681,277	1,690,000
Indonesia	1,100,514	1,058,023	1,100,000	1,100,000
Turkey	1,700,000	1,829,000	1,842,175	1,090,921
Spain	1,077,025	1,063,501	1,074,100	1,065,000
United States	978,890	959,070	998,210	855,870
Nigeria	720,000	721,000	721,500	723,000
Egypt	467,433	460,000	470,000	475,000
Korea, South	410,281	395,293	352,966	345,000
Netherlands	318,000	345,000	318,000	340,000
Romania	237,240	203,751	279,126	280,000
Ghana	270,000	270,000	277,000	279,000
Italy	362,430	362,994	345,152	252,194
Tunisia	255,000	256,000	256,000	250,000
Algeria	265,307	248,614	275,888	233,000
Hungary	126,133	113,371	206,419	207,000
Morocco	182,340	190,480	235,570	192,000
Serbia*	159,741	167,477	177,255	150,257
Japan	153,400	154,000	146,900	150,000
Israel	129,100	134,700	150,677	136,000
World	24,587,124	25,261,259	26,252,907	26,056,900

• Note: Serbia before 2006 incl. Montenegro

Gallery

• 

  Orange bell pepper

• 

  A variety of colored bell peppers

• 

  A whole and halved red bell pepper

• 

  A whole purple pepper

• 

  Red bell peppers

• 

  Japanese green pepper

• 

  Green, yellow and red peppers

• 

  Quadrato d'Asti Giallo bell pepper flower

• 

  Baby Bell pepper

• 

  Red bell pepper as decoration

See also

Wikibooks Cookbook has a recipe/module on Bell Pepper

• List of capsicum cultivars
• Scoville scale
• Paprika
• Stuffed peppers

References

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Bell pepper