Pep talk

Capsicum or bell pepper is actually a fruit which is produced from a flowering plant and contains seeds. We find out some more interesting facts

Bell peppers also known as sweet peppers are native to Mexico, Central and South American region from where they spread to the rest of the world by Spanish and Portuguese explorers during 16th and 17th centuries and now grown widely in many parts of the world as an important commercial crop. Sounds interestingIJ Well, here are few more fun facts about the capsicum.

• Peppers were named by Christopher Columbus and Spanish explorers who were searching for peppercorn plants to produce black pepper.
• Bell peppers belong to the nightshade family of plants. They come in a variety of colors including yellow, green, orange, red, purple, white black etc. Interesting enough there are peppers of the colors brown, white and black! The green ones are the most common in groceries and supermarkets.
• Peppers are actually fruits because they are produced from a flowering plant and contain seeds, though, most people think of them as vegetables.
• The pulpy white inner cavity of the bell pepper (usually cut off and discarded) is a rich source of flavonoids and can be eaten.
• Bell pepper is an excellent source of vitamin C at 117 milligrams per cup. (That’s more than twice the amount of vitamin C found in a typical orange.)
• nRed bell peppers are sweeter than green ones because bell peppers sweeten as they ripen. Green peppers are less sweet and slightly bitterer than all the other color varieties.
• Bell peppers are not seasonal fruits, meaning that their availability all around the year is granted.
• The taste of ripe peppers varies 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.
• Sweet (bell) pepper contains small levels of health benefiting alkaloid compound, capsaicin. Early laboratory studies on experimental mammals suggest that capsaicin has anti-bacterial, anti-carcinogenic, analgesic and anti-diabetic properties.
• Further, capsicum is also good in 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 body requires them from external sources to replenish. B-complex vitamins facilitate cellular metabolism through various enzymatic functions.