Pepper, sweet, red
The term "bell pepper" is one of the many names for some fruits of the Capsicum annuum species of plants. The misleading name "pepper" (pimiento in Spanish) was given by Christopher Columbus upon bringing the plant back to Europe. At that time peppercorns, the fruit of Piper nigrum, an unrelated plant, were a highly prized condiment.
While the bell pepper is a member of the Capsicum genus, it is the only Capsicum apart from Capsicum rhomboideum that does not produce capsaicin, a lipophilic chemical that can cause a strong burning sensation when it comes in contact with mucous membranes. The lack of capsaicin in bell peppers is due to a recessive form of a gene that eliminates capsaicin and, consequently, the "hot" taste usually associated with the rest of the Capsicum genus.
Most typically, unripe fruits are green or, less commonly, pale yellow or purple. Red bell peppers are simply ripened green peppers, although the Permagreen variety maintains its green color even when fully ripe. As such, mixed colored peppers also exist during parts of the ripening process.
Sweet red pepper Nutrition Facts: Calories, Carbs, and Health Benefits
TweetThe composition of sweet red pepper is 92.21% water, 6.03% carbohydrates, 0.99% protein, 2.1% dietary fiber, and 0.3% fat. If you consume one medium sweet red pepper it will provide you with 7.176 grams of carbohydrates. That translates to 5.52 percent of the 130 grams of carbohydrates people should include in their daily diet. That same in an amount measuring 100 grams (3.5 Oz), sweet red pepper provides 111 kilojoules (26 kilocalories) of energy and is a very good source of Vitamin C (ascorbic acid), Vitamin A (total, RAE), and Vitamin B6 (pyridoxine) (170.27%, 22.43%, and 22.38% of the Daily Value, respectively). This means that if you add sweet red peppers in your diet it will help your body to absorb iron from food and defend itself more naturally since vitamin C is an antioxidant, reduce probability of heart disease by fighting cholesterol, improve the efficiency of lymphocytes (or white blood cells) to heal wounds and will be effective against gout (a type of arthritis) attacks by reducing blood uric acid levelsdementia since vitamin C impacts memory positivelythe occurrence of cancer. It contains low amount of minerals.