Different Types & Varieties of Bell Peppers (With Names and Pictures)
Bell peppers are a type of vegetable that can be grown in gardens. There are many types and varieties of bell peppers to choose from, so you’ll be able to find the perfect one for your needs. Some common bell pepper varieties include sweet, hot, banana, jalapeño, and pineapple. All of these varieties have their own unique flavor and texture.
Bell peppers are in the species Capsicum Annuum. The genus Capsicum has 20-27 species with 5 of those being domesticated: C. annuum, C. baccatum, C. chinense, C. frutescens, and C. pubescens.
The fruit of Capsicum plants is known by many names depending upon location and includes chili pepper, sweet pepper, red pepper, green pepper, mangos, capsicum, and paprika. Paprika in the US is a spice made from a Capsicum pepper.
Peppers are split into two main categories, sweet peppers, and hot peppers. Bell peppers fall under the sweet pepper category and are the only pepper to have zero capsaicin, the organic chemical that gives peppers their heat.
This article is all about different types and varieties of bell peppers to grow in your garden. We will also explore any type of sweet and spicy bell peppers.
Where Do Bell Peppers Come From?
Peppers are known, originating in Mesoamerica around 7,000 years ago. The name “chili” comes from the Nahuatl language of the Aztecs who grew the peppers.
Around 1493, the time of Columbus, peppers were brought from the Americas to Europe. At the time, black pepper was a highly prized commodity and commonly used as currency. A good guess why this happened is that this is because diets at the time were pretty bland and repetitive.
Europeans found the spiciness of the newly introduced fruits similar to black table peppers, and the name pepper stuck. Although they share the same name, black or white table pepper is not in the same family and comes from ground seeds of the plant Piper nigrum.
Although peppers have a long history, the modern-day bell pepper is relatively new. Bell peppers were unpopular for a long time, possibly because people wanted the spiciness that bell peppers don’t have.
Bell peppers before the 1900’s had a combination of thin walls and skin inside that made for a noisy plant when being blown in the wind and that’s how the peppers got the name bell pepper. In 1908 self-taught botanist Gregor Carillon bred the first silent bell pepper that we grow and enjoy today.
Which Bell Peppers Are Sweet?
Bell peppers are all green while they’re young, and bell pepper color changes as they are maturing. Green pepper can become yellow, orange, or red if not plucked, depending on its variety.
The longer the fruit is left on the vine, the sweeter it develops and the more nutritional value it acquires. Bell peppers continue to sweeten as they ripen.
There are a few different types of bell peppers that are sweet. The sweetest color bell pepper is the green bell pepper. The green bell pepper is the most common type of bell pepper. It is typically green and has a mild flavor.
Green peppers have a longer shelf life than peppers that have developed to another color since they were chosen when they were less ripe. However, they are less nutrient-dense than peppers that have matured to another color.
The second type of sweet bell pepper is red bell pepper. The red bell pepper is a little sweeter than the green bell pepper and has a more intense flavor.
The third type of sweet bell pepper is the yellow bell pepper. The yellow bell pepper is slightly sweeter than the green and red bell peppers and has a mild flavor.
Lastly, there is the purple bell pepper. The purple bell pepper has a very intense flavor and is typically used in Indian and Mexican cuisine.
A few varieties of bell peppers that are known for being especially sweet to include Candy Apple, Cupid, and Sweet Sunrise.
Spicy Bell Pepper Plant
Spicy bell peppers do not exist. Bell peppers are the only pepper in the family of Capsicum to have zero capsaicin, the chemical that makes peppers spicy. Capsaicin binds to our mouth’s mucous membranes, causing a burning feeling.
What you should look for instead is a sweet pepper with some spice in it. The following peppers are sweet peppers that also have some spice starting with the least spicy and going to the hottest: banana, pepperoncini, cherry, pimento, cubanelle, paprika, poblano.
Different Varieties of Bell Peppers
There are several types of bell peppers, including green bell peppers, red bell peppers, yellow bell peppers, orange bell peppers, and purple bell peppers. The colors indicate the color or colors of the bell pepper variety, and each variety is linked to a seed supplier.
Etiuda Pepper
Produces large orange bell peppers reminiscent of pumpkins with extremely thick walls. The peppers can reach half a pound in size. The flavor is sweet with a citrus profile in it. It’s a heavy yielder, disease-resistant, and able to grow in many climates.
Chocolate Beauty Pepper
This beauty turns from green to a chocolaty brown color with orange/brown flesh. Matures in 70 days and produces 3-4 lobed peppers.
This is a beautiful heirloom variety with contrasting purple skin and green flesh. Purple Beauty, also called Purple Bell, is a good producer and the fruits are a medium size.
California Wonder Pepper
Probably the most popular heirloom variety grown in gardens, the California Wonder Pepper starts out green and ripens to red. Good to pick at either stage and are the classic green bell pepper.
This is touted as one of the most flavorful and sweetest bell pepper varieties available. These peppers start out green and ripen to red, but have sweetness even when picked green. It is a hybrid developed by Burpee.
Quadroto D’asti Giallo
This is a very large bell pepper that starts out green and turns yellow. The bell peppers have thick walls and some ripened fruit keep a little bit of their green. It is an Italian variety that has heavy yields.
Chocolate Bell – This variety turns from green to a dark chocolatey color on the outside with red flesh on the inside. They are a sweeter variety than most.
Cupid Bell
These are snack-size bell peppers that measure around 2×2 inches. These mature from green to red and are known for being quite sweet when fully ripened. This variety was created by the 100% employee-owned johnnyseeds.
This is a bright orange variety of medium size with medium thick walls. This variety grows in lots of conditions and is resistant to disease. This one is also from johnnyseeds.
Touchdown – This is an early maturing pepper reaching maturity in 72 days and produces large 4×5 inch bell peppers. Has thick walls and is a consistent disease-resistant plant.
White Bell
Produces medium to large-sized peppers that grow as a translucent white color and ripen into a pale yellow color.
King Arthur– King Arthur is a popular variety that is disease resistant and produces consistent good yields. The peppers turn green in 59 days and will ripen to red in 79 days.
Islander – The Islander is also known as The Chameleon because it changes colors from a purple to lavender color, to yellowish/orange, and then fully ripened these peppers are red. This pepper can be picked at any growth stage so this one variety can give you a colorful plate. The taste is a mild/sweet flavor.
This pepper starts out dark green and turns into a yellow/orange color when fully ripened. The taste of these bell peppers is fruity and sweet.
The Mysterious Blue Bell Peppers
If you google blue bell peppers you’ll get a few images of what looks like blue bell peppers. Blue produce of any kind is rare, and it looks like most of these pics are fakes.
One is a neon-type blue that an author from mossandfog believes to be a fake. Another is a stack of perfectly blue bell peppers from a Canadian seller on Amazon selling seeds.
Buyer reviews state that the plant is a pepper plant but not a bell pepper plant and one review says they are green. There is another image that is probably the only real one of the three and it’s a chocolate bell pepper that has a greenish blue tint.
There is a variety of bell pepper named Blue Jay but that goes from purple, to orange, to red. Another variety is called Filius Blue Pepper and this one is not a bell pepper and is purple but is a beautiful sweet pepper plant with peppers that look like Christmas ornaments hanging from the plant.
Looks like if you want a blue bell pepper you’ll need to dedicate the rest of your life to intensive breeding of bell pepper varieties or break out the food coloring.
Final Thought
In conclusion, bell peppers come in many colors, shapes, and sizes. They can be grown in a garden, and are a great addition to any dish. Bell peppers are healthy vegetable that is low in calories and high in nutrients. They are also a good source of antioxidants. There are many types and varieties of bell peppers to choose from, so you are sure to find one that you will love.
Comment below with any thoughts or experiences with different types and varieties of bell peppers.
