Social media users were shocked to discover green, yellow and red bell peppers are all the same vegetable at different stages of ripeness.
The revelation was shared on Twitter by style and lifestyle blogger Amy Eade, from Hull, who said her ‘mind was blown’ at learning the news.
It was clear Amy was not the only one who was taken aback as the post swept across social media and was retweeted 50,000 times.
Social media users were shocked to discover green, yellow and red bell peppers are all the same vegetable at different stages of ripeness. Pictured, red and green peppers on the vine
The revelation was shared on Twitter by style and lifestyle blogger Amy Eade, from Hull, pictured, who said her ‘mind was blown’ at learning the news
One distressed user tweeted their ‘whole life had been a lie’. Another wrote: ‘I thought they were different kinds of pepper I am so shocked!
‘Also I’ve seen part orange part yellow ones before and not clocked it was a ripening indication – somehow thought it was a mutated pepper or something.’
Red, green and yellow or orange bell peppers all come from the same plant.
The post swept across social media, with thousands of users confessing they had not realised all bell peppers came from the same plant. Another said their ‘life has been a lie’
The red bell pepper is the mature version of a green bell, and orange and yellow versions fall in between.
It explains why supermarket bell peppers occasionally fall between two colours.
Responding to Amy’s tweet, one user explained the process was similar to the one that causes leaves to change colour in the autumn.
One witty Twitter user joked they had not been ‘peppered’ for the extraordinary news
She wrote: ‘When you learn about photosynthesis, you learn about the different pigmentation in plants like chloroplast 1 and chloroplast 2 and so on! It’s really cool… it’s similar to what happens to leaves in the fall!’
Another clarified that the ripening process only occurs on the plant and will not be replicated once at home.
But the majority of users were utterly shocked to learn the truth about the vegetables.
One tweeted: ‘First I find out that baby carrots don’t grow organically, they are just big carrots cut down and shaped to look like baby carrots. Now this.’
The red bell pepper is the mature version of a green bell, and orange and yellow versions fall in between. It explains why supermarket bell peppers occasionally fall between two colours
Some users were equally surprised that the fact was apparently lesser-known. One user compared the process of colour change to leaves turning in the autumn
Another posted: ‘I found this out a few weeks ago visiting our warehouse – mind blown!’
A third added: ‘I genuinely thought they were different plants. Every days a school day!’
The differences between different colours of pepper is not limited to colour. They also have different tastes and are packed with different nutrients.
For example, red peppers contain twice the amount of vitamin C than green bell peppers.