This is how you find out which bell pepper is sweetest

Did you ever notice some bell peppers are sweeter than other? And we don’t mean the difference between red, green and yellow. No, even within the same colour the taste can differ. The difference lies in whether the bell pepper is male or female. Say what? Yes, you read that right; bell peppers have genders.

This is how you recognise the difference.

Recognise

We knew that some bell peppers taste sweeter than others. And we’re always happily surprised when our pepper has very few seeds. But did you know you can just pick out your bell peppers based on these things? The male pepper contains much fewer seeds than its female counterpart. How do you recognise this? Turn over the pepper. The male variant has three bumps on the bottom and the female kind has four.

Taste

Now you know the difference between a male bell pepper and a female one, you’ll be able to distinguish between them in the supermarket from now on. Like we said, the male kind (with three bumps) contains fewer seeds than the female kind. So, what about the taste? Well, the female pepper is sweeter than the male one. That makes the female pepper perfect for raw consumption. The male pepper, which is slightly more bitter, is more suitable for putting into savoury dishes.

Benefits

We detest those annoying little seeds in bell peppers, which is why we’d usually prefer the male pepper. However, the female pepper has another benefit besides being sweeter than her male counterpart: she’s much more suitable to make stuffed bell peppers with. Because the female pepper has four bumps instead of three, it’s much easier to make sure she stays upright. That way, your pepper won’t tumble over while baking. Mess avoided!

Test

Next time you go to the market or supermarket to buy some bell peppers, think about what you are going to use them for. Raw or stuffed? Choose the female version. Want one that’s easy to slice and stir-fry? Go for the male one! Good luck and enjoy!

Read more: Here are 5 vegetables you need to cook before you eat them

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