Bell pepper, also known as sweet pepper, is one of the most commonly employed chili peppers in the Capsicum annuum family. Sweet peppers are fruit pods on the capsicum plant grown for their subtle hotness yet sweet, the delicate peppery flavor they extend to the recipes. Botanically, it is a small perennial shrub in the nightshade or Solanaceae family, of the genus, Capsicum.
Scientific name: Capsicum annuum L.
Sweet peppers, unlike their fellow capsicum members, characteristically have a bell-shape, and crunchy, thick fleshy textured pods. In comparison with fellow chili-pepper members, bell (sweet) peppers feature dramatically far less pungency that ranges from zero to very minimal on the hotness scale. For the same reasons, they are treated much like any other day-to-day vegetables instead of spices in the cuisine.Peppers are native to Mexico and other Central American regions, from where they spread to the rest of the world through the Spanish and Portuguese explorers during the 16th and 17th centuries. Today, they are grown widely in many parts of the world as an important commercial crop.
As in other chili pepper varieties, bell peppers also have several cultivar types. However, their plant type and fruit pod (bell shape and 3-5 lobed) are common hallmarks in almost all cultivars.
In structure, sweet pepper features blocky, cube-like outer flesh enveloping around many tiny, cream-colored, round, and flat seeds. The seeds are clinging to the central core (placenta).
For harvesting, peppers are handpicked at different stages of maturity depending on the preferences of local markets. All varieties of young, immature peppers feature green color pods, irrespective of their final destined color. As the fruit matures, it gradually acquires its true genetic color; orange, red, purple, yellow, and green.
The hotness of peppers is measured in Scoville heat units(SHU). On the Scoville scale, a sweet bell pepper scores 0, while a jalapeno pepper around 2,500-4,000, and a Mexican habanero- 200,000 to 500,000 units.
Health benefits of Bell pepper
- Bell pepper contains an impressive list of plant nutrients that are found to have disease-preventing and health-promoting properties. Unlike other fellow chili peppers, it has very fewer calories and fats. 100 grams provides just 31 calories.
- Sweet (bell) pepper contains small levels of capsaicin, a health benefiting alkaloid compound. Early laboratory studies on experimental mammals suggest that capsaicin has anti-bacterial, anti-carcinogenic, analgesic, and anti-diabetic properties. When used judiciously, it also found to reduce triglycerides and LDL cholesterol levels in obese individuals.
- Fresh bell peppers, red or green, are a rich source of vitamin-C. This vitamin is particularly concentrated in red peppers at the highest levels. 100 g red pepper provides about 127.7 µg or about 213% of RDA of vitamin-C.
- Vitamin-C is a potent water-soluble antioxidant. Inside the human body, it is required for collagen synthesis. Collagen is the main structural protein in the body required for maintaining the integrity of blood vessels, skin, organs, and bones. Regular consumption of foods rich in this vitamin helps the human body protect from scurvy, develop resistance against infectious agents (boosts immunity) and scavenge harmful, pro-inflammatory free radicals from the body.
- It also contains healthy levels of vitamin-A. 100 g of sweet pepper has 3,131 IU or 101% of vitamin A. Additionally, antioxidant flavonoids such as alpha and beta carotenes, lutein, zeaxanthin, and cryptoxanthin are also found in them. Together, these antioxidant substances in sweet peppers help protect the body from the injurious effects of free radicals generated during stress and disease conditions.
- Bell pepper has adequate levels of essential minerals. Some of the main minerals in it are iron, copper, zinc, potassium, manganese, magnesium, and selenium. Manganese is used by the body as a co-factor for the antioxidant enzyme, superoxide dismutase. Selenium is an antioxidant trace element that acts as a co-factor for enzyme, superoxide dismutase.
- Further, capsicum (sweet pepper) is also good in the B-complex group of vitamins such as niacin, pyridoxine (vitamin B-6), riboflavin, and thiamin (vitamin B-1). These vitamins are essential in the sense that the body requires them from external sources to replenish. B-complex vitamins facilitate cellular metabolism through various enzymatic functions.