Can Bell Peppers Be Eaten Raw? Types of Culinary Uses and Pest and Disease Control

You may not be familiar with the name sweet pepper; it is also called bell pepper, tomato pepper, or sweet pepper, and in Taiwanese it is also called big tube, and it is a variety of chili pepper in the genus Capsicum of the nightshade family, belonging to the “non-artificially introduced and cultivated” type of plant. Sweet peppers have a very high vitamin content and can act as an antioxidant. So can sweet peppers be eaten raw? What are the precautions for eating sweet peppers? How many ways are there to eat sweet peppers? Sweet pepper pest and disease control?

1. Can sweet peppers be eaten raw?

Sweet peppers can be eaten raw, but the taste is not good. Eating them raw can supplement vitamin C. Vitamin C is an indispensable nutrient for the human body, with functions of maintaining cell integrity, protecting the elasticity of blood vessels, improving antioxidant effects, resisting free radicals, and boosting immunity. Sweet peppers are rich in vitamin C and B and carotene as strong antioxidants, which can resist cataracts, heart disease and cancer. The redder the sweet pepper, the more nutrients it contains, and its vitamin C content far exceeds that of other citrus fruits.

2. What are the precautions for eating sweet peppers?

1. People with ulcers, esophagitis, cough, or sore and swollen throat should eat sweet peppers sparingly.

2. Before eating sweet peppers raw, cut them in half first, remove the stem and seeds, and wash them before eating.

3. If sweet peppers are heated, it is best to stir-fry them quickly over high heat to keep the texture crisp and preserve the nutrients.

3. Ways to eat sweet peppers

1. Sweet peppers can be eaten both raw and cooked. In the West, when eaten raw, sweet peppers can be used as an appetizer or in salads. They can also be used to make soups and stews, and can also be used in omelets, snacks, pizza and other foods. Marinades also use sweet peppers, and tuna is often paired with sweet peppers. Portuguese and Mexican cooking often uses many sweet peppers. Sweet peppers can be cooked with tofu, chicken, rabbit meat, ham, and eggs, and can also be used as a filling.

2. Sweet peppers can be cut into strips, shreds or slices. Before cooking sweet peppers, the root should be removed, the seeds carefully scraped out, and the white veins removed. Blanching in water before coring can shorten the cooking time.

4. Sweet pepper pest and disease control

Sweet pepper leaf spot

Symptoms: It mainly harms leaves. At first, small yellow-green irregular water-soaked spots appear, which after expansion become reddish-brown or dark green or dark brown to rust-colored. The lesions are membranous and vary in size. When dry, the lesions are mostly reddish-brown. Once infected, the disease spreads very quickly. Whether individual leaves or most leaves on a plant are affected, the plant can still grow, and in severe cases it causes leaf drop. The lesion edges are obvious but not raised, which distinguishes it from scab.

Transmission route and disease conditions: The pathogen can overwinter on seeds and diseased residues. In the field, it spreads through wind and rain or irrigation water, invading through wounds on sweet pepper leaves. Disease is severe in continuous cropping land and in plots continuously cropped with cruciferous vegetables such as cabbage. After continuous rainfall, the disease expands very quickly. It easily spreads in hot and rainy seasons.

Control measures:

(1) Implement a 2—3 year rotation with crops other than solanaceous vegetables such as sweet peppers and cruciferous vegetables such as cabbage.

(2) Use high-ridge cultivation, drain promptly after rain, and avoid flood irrigation.

(3) Before sowing or sprouting, treat seeds with 50% copper fatty acid ester wettable powder or 50% dexon wettable powder at 0.3% of the seed amount by seed dressing or seed soaking.

(4) After harvest, clean the field promptly, thoroughly remove diseased and residual plants, and carry out deep autumn plowing.

(5) Begin spraying at the early stage of disease. You can spray 50% copper fatty acid ester wettable powder at 500 times dilution in water, or 40% copper-ammonia complex aqueous solution at 300 times dilution, or 77% Kocide wettable microgranule powder at 400 times dilution, or agricultural streptomycin sulfate soluble powder at 4000 times dilution. Spray once every 7 to 10 days, for a total of 2 to 3 sprays.

Control of sweet pepper blight

1. Crop rotation: Implement a rotation of 2 to 3 years or more. Cruciferous vegetables and leguminous vegetables are good previous crops, while cucurbit and solanaceous fruit previous crops result in severe disease.

2. Cultivate disease-free seedlings: Raise seedlings far from pepper cultivation areas, do not use soil from pepper fields, use new field soil where peppers have never been planted, and apply sufficient decomposed manure. Remove diseased seedlings as soon as they are seen on the bed surface, spray pesticide comprehensively, and cultivate disease-free seedlings for transplanting.

3. Field management: Plant on high ridges, maintain appropriate density, use water reasonably, drain after rain, cultivate and loosen the soil, prevent excessively high humidity, remove diseased plants and residual fruits, and reduce sources of disease, all of which help reduce disease occurrence and harm.

4. Chemical control: Before sowing, soak seeds for 12 hours in 20% tolclofos-methyl emulsifiable concentrate at 1000 times dilution, drain off the liquid, rinse with clean water, then dry and sprout before sowing. After transplanting, when central diseased plants are found, apply pesticide promptly by spraying and drenching so that the plants, stem base and ground are all covered with the pesticide. For spray drenching, you can use 40% fosetyl-aluminum at 200 times dilution, 58% metalaxyl-mancozeb wettable powder at 500 times dilution, 70% fosetyl-mancozeb wettable powder at 500 times dilution, 64% oxadixyl-mancozeb wettable powder at 500 times dilution, etc. In protected cultivation, you can also use 45% chlorothalonil smoke agent at 250 grams per mu, or 5% chlorothalonil dust at 1 kilogram per mu, applied after sunset. Blight spreads quickly, so pesticide should be applied early and in a timely manner, once every 7 to 10 days, for 2 to 3 consecutive applications.