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The bell pepper (also known as sweet pepper, paprika, pepper, capsicum or, in some parts of the US midwest, mango) is the fruit of plants in the Grossum cultivar group of the species Capsicum annuum. Cultivars of the plant produce fruits in different colors, including red, yellow, orange, green, white, chocolate, candy cane striped, and purple. Bell peppers are sometimes grouped with less pungent chili pepper varieties as "sweet peppers". While they are Botany —classified as berries—they are commonly used as a vegetable ingredient or side dish. Other varieties of the genus Capsicum are categorized as Chili pepper when they are cultivated for their pungency, including some varieties of Capsicum annuum.
Peppers are native to Mexico, Central America, the Caribbean and northern South America. Pepper seeds were imported to Spain in 1493 and then spread through Europe and Asia. Preferred growing conditions for bell peppers include warm, moist soil in a temperature range of .
The terms bell pepper (US, Canada, Philippines), pepper or sweet pepper (UK, Ireland, Canada, South Africa, Zimbabwe), and capsicum (Australia, Bangladesh, India, Malaysia, New Zealand, Pakistan and Sri Lanka) are often used for any of the large bell-shaped peppers, regardless of their color. The fruit is simply referred to as a "pepper", or additionally by color ("green pepper" or red, yellow, orange, purple, brown, black). In the Midland region of the U.S., bell peppers, either fresh or when stuffed and pickled, are sometimes called mangoes.
In some languages, the term paprika, which has its roots in the word for pepper, is used for both the Paprika and the fruit – sometimes referred to by their color (for example groene paprika, gele paprika, in Dutch, which are green and yellow, respectively). The bell pepper is called "パプリカ" ( papurika) or "ピーマン" ( pīman, from French piment pronounced with a silent 't') in Japan. In Switzerland, the fruit is mostly called peperone, which is the Italian name of the fruit. In France, it is called poivron, with the same root as poivre (meaning "pepper") or piment. In Spain it is called pimiento morrón, the masculine form of the traditional spice, pimienta and "morrón" (snouted) referring to its general shape. In South Korea, the word "피망" ( pimang from the French piment) refers to green bell peppers, whereas "파프리카" ( papeurika, from paprika) refers to bell peppers of other colors. In Sri Lanka, both the bell pepper and the banana pepper are referred to as a "capsicum" since the bell pepper has no Sinhalese translation. In Argentina and Chile, it is called "morrón".
The bell pepper is the only member of the genus Capsicum that does not produce capsaicin, a lipophilic chemical that can cause a strong burning sensation when it comes in contact with . Bell peppers are thus scored in the lowest level of the Scoville scale, meaning that they are not spicy. This absence of capsaicin is due to a recessive form of a gene that eliminates the compound and, consequently, the "hot" taste usually associated with the rest of the genus Capsicum. This recessive gene is overwritten in the Mexibelle pepper, a hybrid variety of bell pepper that produces small amounts of capsaicin (and is thus mildly pungent). Conversely, a mutant strain of habanero has been bred to create a heatless version called the 'Habanada'. Sweet pepper cultivars produce Capsinoids.
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