We love peppers. We can’t get enough of them this time of year! Predictably, my kids wanted to know where they come from and what they are best known for.

Peppers are nightshade vegetables (botanically related to cayenne, chili pepper, eggplant, tomatoes, goji berries and ordinary potatoes). This means that they contain lectin proteins to ward off insects and other predators. But they can cause gut issues in some people. Peppers were first cultivated in South America about 5,000 years ago and were introduced into Europe in the 16th century.

Peppers come in an astonishing bounty of colors, including red, orange, yellow, green, white, purple and brown. They also range from sweet (bell peppers) to hot and spicy (chili peppers 🌶). The carotenoids and flavonoids in these peppers are responsible for the vivid colors. The only pepper with no capsaicin, though, is the bell pepper.

Among the sweet varieties, what’s the taste difference between the colors? Green and purple peppers are more bitter and tangy, while red, orange and yellow are sweeter and almost fruity. While sweet bell peppers do contain a small amount of sugar, it is their lack of capsaicin (the alkaloid that gives hot peppers their “hotness”) that allows the sweetness to come through.

Already this season, we’ve brought home red, orange, yellow, green and brown bell peppers. And did you know that paprika is derived from ripened, dried and powdered sweet bell peppers? My kids will be excited to know that their favorite spice is in fact derived from a pepper!