About Bell Peppers
A wonderful combination of tangy taste and crunchy texture, sweet
bell peppers are the Christmas ornaments of the vegetable world with
their beautifully shaped glossy exterior that comes in a wide array of
vivid colors ranging from green, red, yellow, orange, purple, brown to
black. Despite their varied palette, all are the same plant, known
scientifically as
Capsicum annuum. They are members of the
nightshade family, which also includes potatoes, tomatoes and eggplant.
Sweet peppers are plump, bell-shaped vegetables featuring either three
or four lobes. Green and purple peppers have a slightly bitter flavor,
while the red, orange and yellows are sweeter and almost fruity. Paprika
can be prepared from red bell peppers (as well as from chili peppers).
Bell peppers are not 'hot'. The primary substance that controls
"hotness" in peppers is called capsaicin, and it's found in very small
amounts in bell peppers. Although peppers are available throughout the
year, they are most abundant and tasty during the summer and early fall
months.
What's New and Beneficial about Bell Peppers
- Bell pepper is not only an excellent source of carotenoids, but also
a source of over 30 different members of the carotenoid nutrient
family. A recent study from Spain took a close look vitamin C, vitamin
E, and six of these carotenoids (alpha-carotene, beta-carotene,
lycopene, lutein, cryptoxanthin and zeaxanthin) in all commonly eaten
foods and found that only two vegetables contained at least two-thirds
of all the listed nutrients. One of these foods was tomato, and the
other was sweet bell pepper! Bell pepper alone provided 12% of the total
zeaxanthin found in the participants' diets. (Bell pepper also provided
7% of the participants' total vitamin C intake.)
- If you want to maximize the availability of vitamin C and
carotenoids from bell pepper, allow this amazing vegetable to ripen.
Recent studies have shown that the vitamin C content and the carotenoid
content of bell pepper both increase with ripening. When the vitamin C
and carotenoid content of bell peppers increases, so does their total
antioxidant capacity, which can be a source of great health benefits.
Growers can allow bell peppers to ripen on the plant prior to harvest
(which means that you will be able to purchase them in the grocery store
in a ripened state). Or, if harvested early in the ripening stage, bell
peppers can still be allowed to ripen post-harvest and after you've
purchased them and brought them home from the market. In one recent
study, the vitamin C in not-fully-ripe bell peppers continued to
increase during home storage over a period of about 10 days. It can,
though, be difficult to tell whether a bell pepper is optimally ripe.
Most--but not all--green bell peppers will turn red in color over time,
but they may be optimally ripe before shifting over from green to red. A
good rule of thumb is to judge less by their basic color and more by
their color quality as well as overall texture and feel. Whether green,
red, yellow, or orange, optimally ripe bell peppers will have deep,
vivid colors, feel heavy for their size, and be firm enough to yield
only slightly to pressure.
- Higher heat cooking can damage some of the delicate
phytonutrients in bell peppers. In one recent study from Turkey, the
effects of grilling on sweet green bell peppers were studied with
respect to one particular phytonutrient--the flavonoid called luteolin.
Prior to grilling, the bell peppers were found to contain about 46
milligrams/kilogram of this important antioxidant and anti-inflammatory
flavonoid. After grilling for 7-8 minutes at a temperature of 150°C
(302°F), about 40% of the luteolin was found to be destroyed. This loss
of luteolin from higher heat cooking is one of the reasons we like
cooking methods for bell peppers that use lower heat for a very short
period of time.
- Although we tend to think about cruciferous vegetables like
broccoli or allium vegetables like onions and garlic as vegetables that
are richest in sulfur-containing compounds, bell peppers can also be
valuable sources of health-supportive sulfur compounds. Several recent
studies have taken a close look at the presence of enzymes in bell
peppers called cysteine S-conjugate beta-lyases and their role in
a sulfur-containing metabolic pathway called the thiomethyl shunt.
These enzymes and this pathway may be involved in some of the
anti-cancer benefits that bell pepper has shown in some animal and lab
studies. They may serve as the basis for some of the anti-cancer
benefits shown by green, yellow, red and orange vegetable intake in
recent studies, including a recent study on risk reduction for gastric
cancer and esophageal cancer
Related Posts:
0 Response to "FAIDA KUU NNE ZA KULA HOHO ZA NJANO NA NYEKUNDU"
Post a Comment