Bell pepper or sweet pepper is a cultivar of the species Capsicum annuum. Fruits of this cultivar come in different colors, including red, green, orange, yellow, purple and more rarely white. Peppers are native to Mexico, Central America, and northern North America, and have been spread to countries in Europe, Africa, and Asia. Mexico is still remains as one of the major pepper producers in the world.
Bell peppers are botanically fruits, but are often considered in culinary contexts to be vegetables. Bell pepper is the only Capsicum that does not produce capsaicin, even though it is a member of the Capsicum family. The lack of capsaicin is due to a recessive gene that eliminates capsaicin. Bell pepper, pepper, and capsicum are the terms often used to refer any large bell-shaped capsicum fruits, regardless of their color.
Green pepper is less sweet and slightly more bitter than red, yellow or orange pepper. The taste of ripe peppers can also vary with the growing conditions and post-harvest storage treatment. The sweetest are fruits that allowed to fully ripen on the plant in full sun, while fruit harvested green and ripen in storage is less sweet.
Red peppers have more vitamins and nutrients compared to green peppers. Red pepper also contains the antioxidant lycopene, and high level of carotene. The level of vitamin C in red peppers is twice the amount of that in green peppers.
Yellow Bell Peppers http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Yellow_Bell_Pepper_group_store.jpg pin add
Red Bell Peppers http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Capsicum_annuum_2008.jpg Matti Paavonen
Purple Bell Peppers http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Purple_bellpepper.jpg Caroline Ford
Orange Bell Peppers http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Starr_070730-7877_Capsicum_annuum.jpg Forest & Kim Starr
Green Bell Peppers http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Peppers.jpg pin add
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