Green Bell Peppers

[Mary Kay]

I'm looking for the science behind eating green bell peppers. I've googled it and came up with a few opinions, but would like the science behind it, if anyone has researched this.

Sheesh, my 6 y.o. daughter "did me a favor" and went out into he garden and picked ALL the green bell peppers....WAAAAAAAHHHHH ----a large basketful....... I was waiting for them to turn red.

I've read that green (unripe) bell peppers are not as digestible s red...

Mary Kay

[spicyfull]

The Brighter the Color the more Vitamin C. I like them all. I would chop them and put them in the Freezer. I hope you didn't scold her, I also hope she continues to be such a Great Helper as she gets older. How about during her Teen Years? :)

[Seedy]

I don't think there is any science behind green bell peppers. It's just economics. If you pick the pepper when its green, its still unripe. It will ship easier without bruising, and won't be rotten by the time it gets to the store. Since peppers continue to ripen after they are picked anyway, that makes the most sense to the farmer. The fact that the peppers would be more nutritious if picked ripe only enters the picture if the farmer can charge $2.99 or more a pound for red, orange and yellow ripe peppers. But if the consumer only wants to pay $0.99 a pound for green peppers and the ripe once don't sell, then green peppers it is.
Seedy

[Revvell]

As others have said, green peppers are unripe. It takes longer for them to ripen to red, orange or yellow, so, saving money for the farmer. It's better to vine ripen than to let them ripen off the vine as nutrients will come from the ground.

What's interesting is, one can purchase seed for green bell peppers. My husband did that. I still waited for the reds to show up. They did.