Bell pepper

The bell pepper (also known as sweet pepper , pepper , capsicum /ˈkæpsɪkəm/[1] or in some
places, mangoes [2]) is t he fruit of plant s in t he Grossum Group of t he species Capsicum
annuum.[3][4] Cult ivars of t he plant produce fruit s in different colors, including red, yellow, orange,
green, whit e, chocolat e, candy cane st riped, and purple. Bell peppers are somet imes grouped
wit h less pungent chili variet ies as "sweet peppers". While t hey are bot anically fruit s—classified
as berries—t hey are commonly used as a veget able ingredient or side dish. Ot her variet ies of t he
genus Capsicum are cat egorized as chili peppers when t hey are cult ivat ed for t heir pungency,
including some variet ies of Capsicum annuum.

Peppers are nat ive t o Mexico, Cent ral America, t he Caribbean and nort hern Sout h America.
Pepper seeds were import ed t o Spain in 1493 and t hen spread t hrough Europe and Asia. The mild
bell pepper cult ivar was developed in t he 1920s, in Szeged, Hungary.[5] Preferred growing
condit ions for bell peppers include warm, moist soil in a t emperat ure range of 21 t o 29 °C (70 t o
84 °F).[6]
Nomenclature Bell pepper

Green, yellow, and

A variety of colored bell peppers
red bell peppers
Species Capsicum
annuum

Chef chopping bell peppers

Heat None
The name pepper was given by Europeans
when Christ opher Columbus brought t he plant
Scoville 0 SHU
back t o Europe. At t hat t ime, black pepper
(peppercorns), from t he unrelat ed plant Piper
scale
nigrum originat ing from India, was a highly
prized condiment . The name pepper was
applied in Europe t o all known spices wit h a
hot and pungent t ast e and was t herefore ext ended t o genus Capsicum when it was int roduced
from t he Americas. The most commonly used name of t he plant family chile is of Mexican origin,
from t he Nahuat l word chilli.

The t erms bell pepper (US, Canada, Philippines), pepper or sweet pepper (UK, Ireland, Canada,
Sout h Africa, Zimbabwe), and capsicum (Aust ralia, Bangladesh, India, Malaysia, New Zealand,
Pakist an and Sri Lanka) are oft en used for any of t he large bell-shaped peppers, regardless of
t heir color. The fruit is simply referred t o as a "pepper", or addit ionally by color ("green pepper" or
red, yellow, orange, purple, brown, black).[7] In t he Midland region of t he U.S., bell peppers, eit her
fresh or when st uffed and pickled, are somet imes called mangoes .[8]

In some languages, t he t erm paprika , which has it s root s in t he word for pepper, is used for bot h
t he spice and t he fruit – somet imes referred t o by t heir color (for example groene paprika , gele
paprika , in Dut ch, which are green and yellow, respect ively). The bell pepper is called " パプリカ"
(papurika ) or "ピーマン" (pīman, from French piment pronounced wit h a silent 't ') in Japan. [9]
In
Swit zerland, t he fruit is most ly called peperone, which is t he It alian name of t he fruit . In France, it
is called poivron, wit h t he same root as poivre (meaning "pepper") or piment. In Spain it is called
pimiento morrón , t he masculine form of t he t radit ional spice, pimienta and "morrón" (snout ed)
referring t o it s general shape. In Sout h Korea, t he word " 피망" (pimang from t he French piment)
refers t o green bell peppers, whereas " 파프리카" (papeurika, from paprika) refers t o bell peppers
of ot her colors. In Sri Lanka, bot h t he bell pepper and t he banana pepper are referred t o as a
"capsicum" since t he bell pepper has no Sinhalese t ranslat ion. In Argent ina and Chile, it is called
"morrón".

Colors
The most common colors of bell peppers are green, yellow, orange and red. Ot her colors include
brown, whit e, lavender, and dark purple, depending on t he variet y. Most t ypically, unripe fruit s are
green or, less commonly, pale yellow or purple. Red bell peppers are simply ripened green
peppers,[12] alt hough t he Permagreen variet y maint ains it s green color even when fully ripe. As
such, mixed colored peppers also exist during part s of t he ripening process.
Uses Peppers, sweet, red,
raw

Nutritional value per

Culinary
Like t he t omat o, bell peppers are bot anical
Energy 27 kcal (110 k
fruit s but culinary veget ables. Pieces of bell
pepper are commonly used in garden salads
Carbohydrates 4.64 g
and as t oppings on pizza. There are many
variet ies of st uffed peppers prepared using Sugars 2.4 g
hollowed or halved bell peppers. Bell peppers
(and ot her cult ivars of Capsicum annuum) Dietary fiber 1.8 g
may be used in t he product ion of t he spice
paprika.
Fat 0.13 g

Protein 0.9 g
Nutrition Vitamins Quantity
%DV†
A raw red bell pepper is 94% wat er, 5%
carbohydrat es, 1% prot ein, and cont ains
Vitamin A equiv. 157
negligible fat . A 100 gram (3.5 ounce)
reference amount supplies 26 calories, and is a beta-Carotene 1
rich source of vit amin C – cont aining 158% of
t he Daily Value (DV) – vit amin A (20%), and Thiamine (B1) 0.055
vit amin B6 (23% DV), wit h moderat e cont ent s
of riboflavin (12%), folat e (12% DV), and Riboflavin (B2) 0.14
vit amin E (11% DV). A red bell pepper supplies
Niacin (B3) 1 mg6%
t wice t he vit amin C and eight t imes t he
vit amin A cont ent of a green bell pepper.[13]
Pantothenic acid (B5)
The bell pepper is t he only member of t he Vitamin B6 0.318%
mg
genus Capsicum t hat does not produce
capsaicin, a lipophilic chemical t hat can cause Folate (B9) 47 12%
μg
a st rong burning sensat ion when it comes in
cont act wit h mucous membranes. They are Vitamin C 142158%
mg
t hus scored in t he lowest level of t he Scoville
scale, meaning t hat t hey are not spicy. This Vitamin E 1.5811%
mg
absence of capsaicin is due t o a recessive
form of a gene t hat eliminat es t he compound
Vitamin K 7.4 μg6%
and, consequent ly, t he "hot " t ast e usually
associat ed wit h t he rest of t he genus Minerals Quantity
%DV†
Capsicum. This recessive gene is overwrit t en
in t he Mexibelle pepper, a hybrid variet y of bell
pepper t hat produces small amount s of
capsaicin (and is t hus mildly pungent ). Sweet
Calcium 6 mg 0%
pepper cult ivars produce non-pungent
capsaicinoids.[14]
Iron 0.35 mg
2%
Magnesium 11 mg
3%
Production Manganese 0.122 m
5
Phosphorus 27 mg
2%
In 2020, global product ion of bell peppers was
36 million t onnes, led by China wit h 46% of t he
Potassium 213 mg
7%
t ot al, and secondary product ion by Mexico,
Indonesia, and Turkey.[15] The Unit ed St at es
Sodium 3 mg 0%
ranks 5t h in t ot al product ion, as it produces
approximat ely 1.6 billion pounds annually.[16]
Zinc 0.2 mg2%

Other constituents Q
Water 92 g
 Link to USDA
See also Database entry (htt
ps://fdc.nal.usda.g
ov/fdc-app.html#/f
List of Capsicum ood-details/22585
cultivars 90/nutrients)

†Percentages

estimated using
US recommendations
for adults,[10] except
for potassium, which
is estimated based
on expert
recommendation
from the National
Academies.[11]

Wikimed
ia
Commo
 ns has
media
related
to Bell
peppers
.

Wikiboo
ks
Cookbo
ok has
a
recipe/
module
on
Bell
Pep
per

References

1. Wells, John C. (2008), Longman

 Pronunciation Dictionary (3rd ed.),
Longman, p. 123, ISBN 9781405881180

2. Heichelbech, Rose. "The Reason Why

Midwesterners Call Bell Peppers
"Mangoes" " (https://12tomatoes.com/mid
westerners-call-bell-peppers-mangoes/) .
12 Tomatoes. Retrieved 11 July 2023.

3. "Capsicum annuum (bell pepper)" (https://

www.cabi.org/isc/datasheet/15784) .
CABI. 28 November 2017. Retrieved
15 March 2018.
4. "Capsicum annuum (Grossum Group) (Bell
Pepper, Red pepper, Sweet Pepper) | North
Carolina Extension Gardener Plant Toolbox"
(https://plants.ces.ncsu.edu/plants/capsicu
m-annuum-grossum-group/) .
plants.ces.ncsu.edu. Retrieved 22 March
2020.

5. Sasvari, Joanne (2005). Paprika: A Spicy

Memoir from Hungary (https://books.googl
e.com/books?id=cdfiz5IS22QC) . Toronto,
ON: CanWest Books. p. 202.
ISBN 9781897229057.
6. "Growing Peppers: The Important Facts" (ht
tps://web.archive.org/web/201301270808
44/http://www.gardenersgardening.com/gr
owingpeppers.html) .
GardenersGardening.com. Archived from
the original (http://www.gardenersgardenin
g.com/growingpeppers.html) on 27
January 2013. Retrieved 10 January 2013.

7. "Bell and Chili Peppers" (https://www.agmr

c.org/commodities-products/vegetables/b
ell-and-chili-peppers) . Agricultural
Marketing Resource Center, US Department
of Agriculture. October 2017. Retrieved
25 August 2018.

8. "Dictionary of American Regional English" (h

ttps://www.daredictionary.com/view/dare/I
D_00036809) . Retrieved 15 March 2018.
 9. Azhar Ali Farooqi; B. S. Sreeramu; K. N.
Srinivasappa (2005). Cultivation of Spice
Crops (https://books.google.com/books?id
=7KPUlXxOYZAC&pg=PA336) . Universities
Press. p. 336. ISBN 978-81-7371-521-1.

10. United States Food and Drug Administration

(2024). "Daily Value on the Nutrition and
Supplement Facts Labels" (https://www.fd
a.gov/food/nutrition-facts-label/daily-value-
nutrition-and-supplement-facts-labels) .
Retrieved 28 March 2024.
11. National Academies of Sciences,
Engineering, and Medicine; Health and
Medicine Division; Food and Nutrition
Board; Committee to Review the Dietary
Reference Intakes for Sodium and
Potassium (2019). Oria, Maria; Harrison,
Meghan; Stallings, Virginia A. (eds.). Dietary
Reference Intakes for Sodium and
Potassium (http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/bo
oks/NBK538102/) . The National
Academies Collection: Reports funded by
National Institutes of Health. Washington,
DC: National Academies Press (US).
ISBN 978-0-309-48834-1. PMID 30844154
(https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/3084415
4) .
12. "Vegetable of the Month: Bell Pepper" (http
s://web.archive.org/web/2003010319354
5/http://www.cdc.gov/NCCDPHP/DNPA/5A
Day/month/bell_pepper.htm) . CDC Fruit &
Vegetable of the Month. Archived from the
original (https://www.cdc.gov/NCCDPHP/D
NPA/5ADay/month/bell_pepper.htm) on 3
January 2003. Retrieved 9 April 2012.

13. University of the District of Columbia.

"Peppers" (http://www.udc.edu/docs/cause
s/online/Pepper%2010.pdf) (PDF). Center
for Nutrition, Diet and Health. Retrieved
13 March 2013.
14. Macho, Antonio; Lucena, Concepción;
Sancho, Rocio; Daddario, Nives; Minassi,
Alberto; Muñoz, Eduardo; Appendino,
Giovanni (1 February 2003). "Non-pungent
capsaicinoids from sweet pepper".
European Journal of Nutrition. 42 (1): 2–9.
doi:10.1007/s00394-003-0394-6 (https://d
oi.org/10.1007%2Fs00394-003-0394-6) .
ISSN 1436-6207 (https://www.worldcat.or
g/issn/1436-6207) . PMID 12594536 (http
s://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/12594536) .
S2CID 25276690 (https://api.semanticscho
lar.org/CorpusID:25276690) .

15. "Bell pepper production" (https://www.tridg

e.com/intelligences/bell-pepper/productio
n) . Tridge. 2020. Retrieved 5 August 2022.
 16. "Bell Peppers" (https://fsi.colostate.edu/bel
l-peppers/) . Colorado School of Public
Health. Retrieved 19 November 2022.

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