Botanical Characteristics Of Sweet Pepper

2024 Author: Sebastian Paterson | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-16 13:47

Cultivation of sweet pepper in the conditions of the Leningrad region. Part 1

For Leningrad gardeners, sweet peppers are a new crop that began to spread since the late 70s of the XX century. This spread was facilitated by a sharp increase in covering materials - various plastic films and non-woven materials such as spunbond and lutrasil, which allowed every amateur gardener to have a film greenhouse and various structures.

Thus, each of them could cultivate thermophilic crops in greenhouses. Sweet pepper has become one of these crops, occupying the main areas of protected ground.

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Bell peppers are widely used in food for their delicious properties. It has a unique aroma in fresh salads, stewed, stuffed with homemade rice and vegetables, lecho is made from it, it is salted and canned in the form of various salads.

The specific pleasant aroma of pepper fruits is determined by the presence of essential oils in them, the concentration of which ranges from 0.1-1.25% on dry matter.

The main advantage of pepper is that it is a supplier of a large group of vitamins. In terms of vitamin C content, pepper surpasses all vegetable plants. Depending on the growing conditions and the degree of ripeness of the fruit, vitamin C accumulates in it on average 100-200 mg / 100 g of raw material, and in some varieties - up to 300 mg.

Pepper fruits are rich in vitamin P (up to 140-170 mg / 100 g), which is a synergist of vitamin C, i.e. enhances its biological effect (delays the oxidation of vitamin C, promotes its complete assimilation). P-active substances are represented mainly by flavonols (25%), catechins (10%) and anthocyanins (5%). The content of P-active substances reaches a maximum at the beginning of fruit ripening, and then decreases, while the content of vitamin C constantly increases as the fruit ripens.

In addition, pepper fruits contain carotene (up to 1.7-2.0 mg / 100 g), B vitamins (thiamine 0.09-0.2 mg / 100 g), riboflavin (0.02-0.1 mg / 100 g), folic acid (0.1-0.17 mg / 100 g), nicotinic acid (0.5-0.6 mg / 100 g). 20-50 g of fresh pepper (1 fruit) is enough to satisfy the daily human need for vitamins C and R. In terms of the content of vitamins, its fruits exceed greenhouse cucumbers and tomatoes by 5-10 times, and therefore their importance in human nutrition is great to ensure normal body activity. Eating these vitamins protects a person from disease.

Due to its nutritional value, pepper is widely used on all continents of the world.

Sweet pepper culture spread to the countries of the Old World only after the discovery of America, from where it was introduced. There is some evidence that pepper did not exist in the countries of the Old World before the discovery of America. However, vegetable pepper was not known in the countries of South America, and its native varieties have not yet been found. Its culture was carried on by the ancient Indians in northern Mexico and in what is now the United States.

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Sweet peppers were brought to Europe later than spicy peppers, but the date of this import has not been established. In the 16th and 17th centuries, many botanists and historians mention it. This proves that it spread in Europe just then.

The first country in Europe to start cultivating pepper was Spain. Then it spread to Italy, Algeria and a number of other countries along the Mediterranean coast and the center of Europe. It was especially widely cultivated in Spain, Hungary and Bulgaria.

Sweet pepper came to Russia from Bulgaria as an amateur culture in the second half of the 18th century. However, on an industrial scale, it began to be grown in our country at the end of the first decade of the 20th century in connection with the rapid development of the canning industry in the Krasnodar, Stavropol Territories and the Rostov Region. Now in conditions of protected ground and using seedlings, this crop can be grown everywhere.

Botanical characteristics of sweet pepper

Peppers belong to the genus Capsicum, the nightshade family. This family includes over 70 genera and 2000 species of plants, among which, in addition to peppers, there are potatoes, tomatoes, eggplants in the culture. The genus of peppers, in turn, has several species, of which only one species is found in a wide culture - represented by sweet peppers and spicy (hot) peppers.

Under the name "pepper" there are also completely different plants from the pepper family, which are known to the consumer as black pepper and allspice - Jamaican from the myrtle family.

Sweet pepper is a short or medium-sized plant. The leaves are large, ovoid, often dark green. The flowers are large with a white corolla. The fruits are large with thickened (0.15-0.8 cm) walls. The shape of the pepper is from cylindrical to spherical-flattened. The color in an unripe state (technical ripeness) is green or cream, after ripening (biological ripeness) - red, orange or yellow. The pulp is without pungency, sometimes sweet, pleasant to the taste with a special "peppery" aroma.

Sweet pepper has evolved in the following direction. Its place of origin is the tropical zone of America, where the largest number of wild-growing forms are concentrated.

Differentiation of the forms of peppers occurred in connection with the changing conditions of their existence, mainly as a result of intensive cultivation on cultivated soils and movement to more northern regions.

Thus, sweet peppers originated from spicy peppers by means of irrigation and cultivation on cultivated soils. The cultivation and ossification of pepper was accompanied by three parallel processes: an increase in fruit size, elimination of bitterness, and an increase in the number of carpels and ovary nests. The increase in the fruitiness of the fruit took place under conditions of intensive cultivation of pepper. The loss of flavoring pungency of pepper is associated with an increase in its size and meatiness.

Large-fruited peppers do not contain tangible pungency. The appearance of this trait in them is possible only as a result of contamination and hybridization with spicy peppers; this symptom is non-conservative and disappears soon without re-clogging.

A variety of tomato peppers

Plants are low or medium in height, semi-spreading or standard. The leaves are large, green or dark green. The flowers are very large. Fruits are round or round-flattened, smooth or ribbed, their size is from 3 to 6 cm in length and from 4 to 8 cm in width. The color of the fruit in an unripe form is green, after ripening - red, less often - yellow. The pulp is thick. The fruits on the plant mostly stick up, their number reaches 25. These peppers are very late in maturity. This variety includes varieties: Tomatovidny, Yablokovidny, Rotunda 10.

A variety of bell peppers

Plants are low, below average height; the shape of the bush is compact, less often semi-spreading. The leaves are large, very large, wide, often swollen in the middle like a barrel or bell; their size ranges from 7 to 10 cm both in length and in width. The fruits are green or dark green at technical ripeness and red or yellow at biological ripeness. The pulp is thick (0.5 to 0.8 cm). The position of the fruit on the bush may be different; the plant often contains up to 10 fruits at a time. The growing season is long. The variety includes varieties: California miracle, Monstrous giant, Osh-kosh.

A variety of cone-shaped peppers

Plants are medium or above average, standard or semi-spreading. The leaves are predominantly dark green, although light green is occasionally found. Fruits are conical, 5 to 9 cm long, 4 to 6 cm wide. Their color is mostly dark green, less often light green or cream. The flesh of the fruit is generally thick (0.2 to 0.5 cm). The position of the fruit on the plant is often hanging; their number per plant is simultaneously from 7 to 20. The variety includes varieties: Maykop white, Gloria, etc. Varieties of this variety, due to their thick fleshness, are very valuable for stuffing, give a large yield of caviar.

A variety of bell peppers

Plants are medium or low-growing, rarely tall, compact or semi-sprawling, often standard. Leaves are large, less often of medium size, ovate-pointed or elongated-truncated, elongated-pyramidal or shortened-cylindrical, obtuse, ribbed; their length can exceed the width by 3 times, the width is 3.5-6 cm, the length is 6-12 cm. The color of fruits in the phase of technical maturity can be from cream to green, in seed maturity - red or yellow. The pulp of the fruit is of medium thickness (0.2 to 0.4 cm). The position of the fruits on the bush is hanging and mixed; their number on the plant is up to 15. This variety includes the following square-fruited varieties: King, Square sweet white, Golden Queen, Bulgarian 46, Bulgarian 35, Ruby Gigant, Large wide red.

A variety of cylindrical peppers

Plants are medium-sized or above average. The leaves are large, green, ovoid and oblong-ovate. Fruits are cylindrical long (12-20 cm and more), width from 3 to 6 cm, sometimes slightly curved. The color of the fruits in the phase of technical ripeness is creamy or green, in biological ripeness - red, yellow or orange. The flesh of the fruit is thick, usually tender, and has a pleasant taste. Hanging fruits, their simultaneous number is 10-20 per plant. The varieties include varieties: Giant Prokoppa, Large red cylindrical, Golden King, Cylindrical.

The thick and tender pulp of these varieties puts them at one of the first places in the assortment of salad and marinade purposes.