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Known in the past centuries with the name of “pepper from Brazil“As they were imported for the first time from Central-South America (Brazil) to Europe by the Spaniards during the first half of the 16th century AD, today the peppers they are essential vegetables in the summer diet not only for their precious nutritional characteristics, but also because they adapt to preparations and packaging methods that are also very different from each other.
Nutritional values
Peppers are particularly rich in C vitamin, but also contain numerous substances useful to the body such as proteins, mineral salts, sugars and, above all, such as provitamin A, B vitamins, vitamin C and vitamin P.
A concentrate of beneficial substances useful to support the functionality of the immune system, protect the skin from the sun’s rays, act against aging and give energy.
Recently, scholars have evaluated their beneficial actions against vision damage, finding that introducing peppers into the weekly menus yellow-orange color can treat the insufficiency of zeaxanthin, a chemical compound that helps prevent one of the major causes of blindness, the macular degeneration age related. Research from the University of Queensland in Australia has shown that orange peppers are by far the richest source of the pigment. carotenoid which gives them color, and which in the organism accumulates behind the eyes to protect them from blue light, and therefore from degeneration. Zeaxanthin cannot be made by the body, so it must be introduced through diet or with supplements. And orange peppers are its most generous source. A single pepper – the authors of the research explained – contains as much as 30 supplement pills. So a recommended dose of 2 mg corresponds to eating no more than 100 grams of peppers.
His carotenoids they could then prove useful in reducing the risk of lung cancer related to smoking. This is demonstrated by a study published in the journal Cancer Prevention Research that describes how the pigment, called beta-cryptoxanthin (BCX), reduces the growth of lung cancer. Researchers from Tufts University in Massachusetts have speculated that the carotenoid BCX, responsible for yellow, orange and red colors of many fruits and vegetables, could reduce the amount of α7-nAChR receptors on the lungs and thus decrease the growth of cancer cells.
With their approx 20 Kcal per 100 grams of food, they are also ideal for those who follow one diet slimming and want to avoid problems swollen belly.
Yellows, reds and greens
Their nutritional characteristics also vary with respect to color.
- The green pepper it is an immature form. Its color is given by the chlorophyll, rich in magnesium, mineral involved in at least 300 different biochemical reactions of cells and linked to the production of energy and muscle contraction.
- The yellow represents the intermediate form. In this typology there is more vitamin K. The color is given by flavonoids, plant pigments with nutritional properties with a protective action towards vascular system.
- The Red it is the real mature form and there is a greater amount of C vitamin. The color derives from anthocyanins and carotenes, precursors of vitamin A. All carotenes (the best known is beta-carotene) carry out a protective action on the skin, intestines and lungs. Anthocyanins, bioactive molecules, together with carotenes also perform an action of vasoprotection of capillaries and small veins.
Today, thanks to the selections, it is possible to directly obtain vegetables with the particular desired color.
How to use them in the kitchen
Besides being eaten fresh, peppers can be preserved up to 10 days in the refrigerator at a temperature of 8-10 ° C. At the time of use, they must be washed, drained thoroughly and then cut into more or less large strips and added raw in salads or cooked in a pan with garlic or onion. There are so many recipes with peppers: in other cases, depending on the type and shape, they can be cut in half in the direction of the width to be cooked in the oven, stuffed or used whole such as roast and as it comes for peppers fry them in a pan.
Eaten raw, however – experts assure them – they have the best nutritional composition in order not to cancel the beneficial actions of their vitamin C, which is thermolabile. However, to improve the digestibility and availability of carotenoids, a light one is also recommended steam cooking or in a pan over a not too high flame.
Tips to make them more digestible
Numerous individuals manifest an intolerance more or less marked compared to these vegetables, often attributable to the particular richness in vitamin C or to the cooking method: in fact it often happens digest fried or raw pepper but not roasted, especially when the latter is washed with running water after peeling. The latter dilutes and makes you lose that thick liquid present inside the vegetable it contains the enzyme able to facilitate digestibility.
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