Did You Know? Peppers Have More Vitamin C than Oranges

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Bell peppers, sometimes known as sweet peppers, are another fruit we like to use as and call a vegetable. They can be red, orange, yellow and are often eaten green. Part of the Capsicum genus that includes all hot peppers, bell peppers differ from their hot cousins in that they lack capsaicin, the chemical that makes most peppers hot. This is due to a recessive gene that eliminates the capsaicin and makes bell peppers sweet rather than spicy. 

What bell peppers lack in heat, they more than make up for in nutrition. For starters, bell peppers provide more vitamin C per serving than oranges. In addition, bell peppers are an excellent source of vitamin A in the form of the antioxidant, beta-carotene. For a really power packed pepper, choose a red bell which has more vitamins (over twice the amount of vitamin C compared to a green pepper). Red bells are also one of the few foods that contains lycopene, another antioxidant that may reduce the chance of certain cancers. 

When choosing peppers, conventional wisdom says that 4-lobed bell peppers are better for cooking because they are firmer and stand up to cooking better. If looking for a pepper to munch on, choose a 3-lobed one as they tend to be much sweeter.