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Peppers are hot fruits

Origins

Peppers, both sweet and hot, originated in Central and South America. According to U.S. Department of Agriculture records, commercial bell peppers were first produced in the southern United States in 1925.

Peppers can be very flexible in any food combinations, be it barbecues, baking, steaming, stir-frying with any vegetables, nuts, seeds or legumes.

They can even be eaten raw as snacks or in salads. It’s no wonder they are the favourites of the vegetarians and vegans.

They come from the colorful Capsicum family which can be split into two main categories - sweet bell peppers and the spicy chillies, such as jalapeños.

The difference arises from the presence of capsaicin in chillies (which is explained later) but not in sweet bell peppers.

Differentiating them

Sweet bell peppers are also known as capsicums, sweet peppers or green/red peppers.

You cannot differentiate the sweet bell peppers varieties when they are still young because they are all green. As they ripen, they will change color.

Depending on the stage of ripeness and their variety, their colors range from orange, yellow, red, purple, brown, black, ivory or green and so do their sweetness.

But green bell peppers remain green throughout the ripening process. Thus, it can be challenging to differentiate the other bell peppers from the green variety before they ripen.

Nutritional values

All peppers are an excellent source of vitamin C. Green bell peppers contain as much as two times of vitamin C as oranges while red or yellow pepper pack three or four times the daily value of vitamin C.

Besides power-packed with vitamin C, bell peppers also provide vitamin B6, phytochemicals such as lycopene and beta-carotene (the precursor for vitamin A), folate, potassium and plenty of fiber.

Chilli peppers contain an additional substance, called capsaicin which has many health benefits:

1. Effective treatment and natural pain relief for inflammation such as arthritis, psoriasis, diabetic neuropathy.

2. Reduce risk of heart attack and stroke as it helps to reduce cholesterol levels and formation of blood clots.

3. Clear blocked nose and congested lungs.

4. Prevent prostate cancer by inhibiting growth of cancerous cells · Prevent stomach ulcers by killing bacteria in the stomach and stimulate more protective stomach juices.

5. Help to lose weight as it speeds up the body’s metabolism rate, suppresses appetite and cravings for sweet foods.

6. Lower risk of Type 2 diabetes by controlling the blood sugar.

The burning sensation

Capsaicin is what makes the chillies hot as it produces a strong burning sensation in the mouth. The seeds are not the main culprits for causing the hotness. Actually, capsaicin is most concentrated in the white membrane where the seed is attached.

Chilli peppers come in different sizes, shapes and degrees of heat or spiciness. The more mature the pepper, the hotter it will be.

The commonly used method to measure how hot the chillies are is Scoville Scale. The Scoville Scale converts the amount of capsaicin in parts per million into Scoville heat units.

So the greater the number of Scoville Scale, the hotter the pepper. A sweet bell pepper measures 0 Scoville unit and a habaneros or scotch bonnet, the hottest known chilli peppers, records at around 300,000 units.

Thus, you should be careful when handling the chilli peppers so as not to let them come in contact with your skin or eyes such as rubbing your eyes with your hands after touching the chillies. Wash your hands thoroughly with soap and water after handling the chillies.

Should you eat a really hot chilli which causes an unbearable burning sensation in your mouth, drink milk or eat yogurt, rice or bread instead of water to ease the pain.

How to handle the hotness

I often use these few ways to handle the chillies:

1. Wear gloves.

2. Holding the chilli by the stem, slice open chillies vertically with a small knife and scrape away the veins and seeds with the knife without touching the seeds.

Another handy tool is the melon baller. Place the chillies in water for 15 minutes before cutting them. Note that this will only reduce but will not fully remove the “hotness” of the chillies.

3. If you do not need to remove the seeds, just hold the chili by the stem and cut the chillies into rings. Asians like to eat the raw chillies as a dip in this manner, with the chillies soaked in lime juice or soy sauce.

Selection and storage

Peppers are not seasonal fruits, meaning you can find them in supermarkets any day during the year.

Choose well-shaped, firm and glossy peppers which feel heavy for their size. Look out for unhealthy peppers with soft or wrinkled areas, cracks, slashes or black spots.

Except for jalapeño which you will see some tiny cracks at the end of their stems, fresh chilli peppers should not have any cracks at all.

It’s best to wrap the peppers in paper bags or paper towels and store in the refrigerator to keep their freshness, up to 5 days for bell peppers and up to 3 weeks for chilli peppers.

Remember to wash the peppers before cooking so as to remove the wax on their surfaces.

Losing weight through fruits and vegetables

Eating vegetables before your meals can help you lose weight, says Professor Barbara Rolls from Pennsylvania State University.

The key to lose weight is to focus on reducing the calories per meal but that doesn't mean eating less. Instead, go for the low energy density foods such as fruits, vegetables and soups which adds bulk and volume to your meals, minus the calories and the fats.

Whether it's a bowl of chunky vegetables soup or pureed greens added to pasta, the overall calories consumed during the meal may be reduced.

Prof Rolls did another experiment on kids' meals by replacing pureed vegetables to pasta and adding more fruits to the yogurt parfaits.

Results: The children seemed to like the taste of the foods even when they were lower in fat and sugar.

For parents with overweight kids, this study showed small changes to the kids' meals can have huge impact on their overall calorie intake.