🌟HEALTH BENEFITS OF BELL PEPPER🌟
The bell pepper is one of the vegetable crops with the highest production world wide. It is one of the most economically important cultivation in tropical and subtropical parts of the world.
Bell pepper has been receiving a lot of attention recently due to its suspected linkages to cardiovascular disease prevention, cancer, hemorrhage prevention, slowing of the aging process, avoidance of cholesterol, and enhancement of physical resistance. Bell peppers, or sweet peppers, are a popular vegetable that people can eat raw or cooked.
Fresh pepper is being cultivated in 126 countries of the world, China being the world’s largest producer followed by Mexico.
Bell peppers come in different colors, depending on how ripe they are. People can choose from the least ripe green peppers through to yellow, orange, purple, or red, which are the ripest.
All colors of pepper have nutritional benefits, but red peppers has higher antioxidant and phytonutrient levels because they are riper than yellow or green peppers.
Like all vegetables, bell peppers naturally contain small amounts of sugars. Red peppers are sweeter, while green peppers can taste more bitter.
However, it is a perishable vegetable with a limited shelf life but storage and postharvest methods are helps to last longer.
Throughout storage using various postharvest methods such as chemical and non-chemical treatments, the quality of bell pepper can be maintained.
Acceptable postharvest storage solution for bell pepper is edible coatings and essential oils that have evolved as a viable and environmentally ones.
Inappropriate post-harvest management techniques have resulted in a considerable decrease in the food value of bell pepper in recent years, resulting in a very significant economic loss.
Bell peppers are high in vitamin C,A,B6,E and different antioxidants especially red ones.
Vitamin C is important for many functions in the body, including:
- producing collagen in the body, which is essential for healing wounds and forming connective tissue
- protein metabolism
- supporting the immune system
- increasing the absorption of non-hem iron (the form found in plants)
- powerful antioxidant capacity, neutralizing free radicals and decreasing risk of cancer and other diseases associated with oxidative stress
Vitamin A plays an essential role in the body , including:
- vision
- immune function
- reproduction
- communication between cells
- cell growth
- normal functioning of organs
Bell peppers contain a number of different antioxidants:
- quercetin
- luteolin
- capsaicinoids
- vitamin C
- beta carotene
- lycopene
Risks of eating bell pepper are:
📢
⚡Bell pepper allergy
⚡Nightshade allergy