Red Pepper

Name: Red pepper — a fully ripe bell pepper (Capsicum annuum) with glossy red skin, thick, juicy walls and a sweet, fruity flavour. It is the same plant as the green pepper, left on the vine to ripen. Chilli and cayenne peppers, which are hot, have their own pages.

Description

Red peppers are the most mature stage of the common bell pepper, taking several weeks longer to ripen than green ones, and they are sweeter, juicier and more nutritious. Their red colour comes from carotenoid pigments such as capsanthin, which also gives paprika its colour.

Red peppers are used all over Europe and the Americas, in dishes such as Spanish piquillo pepper dishes, Hungarian paprika-based stews, Middle Eastern muhammara dip and Italian roasted peppers. They are especially good roasted, when their skin blisters and their flesh turns sweet and silky.

Main nutrition value

Red peppers are among the richest vegetable sources of vitamin C, with several times more than an orange, and also provide vitamin A (from carotenoids), vitamin B6 and folate, and antioxidants such as capsanthin.

How best to be consumed

Red peppers are sweet, and good raw or cooked.

1. Roast until blackened, peel and marinate in olive oil and garlic, or blend into romesco or muhammara.
2. Eat raw in salads, with dips, in wraps and on pizza.
3. Stuff and bake with rice or grains, or add to stews and curries.
4. Blend into soups and sauces for sweetness and colour.
5. Store in the fridge, where they keep for about a week.

Overconsumption could cause…

Red peppers are safe and healthy in food amounts.

1. Reactions in a small number of people sensitive to nightshade plants, such as joint or digestive complaints, though evidence is limited.
2. Gas or indigestion in some people from the skin and seeds.
3. Pesticide residues on conventionally grown peppers, so wash well or buy organic.
4. Allergic reactions in rare cases.

GroupsFruit VegetablesNightshade family (Solanaceae)Low fatLow sodiumRich in vitamin CFresh

Related foodsOrange PepperYellow PepperSerrano PepperPoblanoCherry TomatoEggplant / Aubergine

Wikipedia — Bell pepper, used for origin, naming and history: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bell_pepper