Peppers

(Genus Capsicum)

Pepper is a vermicelli, dicotyledon, herbaceous and shrubby plant of the genus Capsicum. It belongs to the class Solanales of the family Solanaceae.

Pepper is available in about 50 species worldwide. The plant has a height of 50–75 cm, shoots are initially tender and then woody, leaves relatively small, light green, white flowers that grow individually in groups of 2 or 3. The pepper fruit is multicolored green or yellow-green, becoming red or yellow when it matures. Its shape, depending on the variety, is conical and long to spherical or tomato-like.

There are sweet fruits and butchers. Sweet fruits are larger than cauliflowers.
In Greece pepper is cultivated in almost every country in vegetable gardens and greenhouses. It is widespread in Northern Greece. The main varieties are New Magnesia green with sweet and fleshy fruits, Florine with red fruits sweet or hot, cone-shaped, long, medium-sized that are roasted, become paprika or canned, canned and canned yellow Koufalia, pepper, pickled and grown in the Thessaloniki areas, and more.

Pepper fruits are rich in vitamin C and vitamin A.

Burn the fat. Research has shown that capsaicin, the substance that gives chili peppers their spicy flavor and stimulates our metabolism, prevents the formation of fat.

They control cholesterol. Another benefit of capsaicin: it has been shown that adding hot peppers to our daily diet can protect against blood cholesterol, as opposed to eating a milder diet.

They fight arthritis. Half a cup (125 ml) of chopped red or yellow, sweet peppers, has almost twice the amount of your daily vitamin C needs (and green peppers also contain).

They reduce the risk of breast cancer. Red peppers contain carotenoids. Research suggests that menopausal women who ate two or more carbohydrate-rich foods daily reduced their risk of breast cancer by 17%. Why; Higher levels of carotenoids in the bloodstream may be particularly protective against breast cancer that does not need estrogen to grow.

They do good to the heart and prevent stroke. Sweet and hot peppers contain many B vitamins. Red peppers contain 35% and 7%, respectively, and yellow peppers, 20% and 10%, respectively.

They are eaten in salads or cooked. They are one of the main ingredients of Greek cuisine, as they are used in rustic salad, stuffed, as well as as a supplement to sauces etc.

Heated fruits are used as a roast or as a starter or used as a spice. The burns of the fruits are due to one substance, capsaicin, an alkaloid found inside them.