Capsicum: which colour is better?

You are in the produce aisle and you are faced with a choice of red, yellow or green capsicums – possibly even orange too. Which one gives you the most nutritional bang for your buck?

Firstly, it is good to know that these are all the same vegetable: red, yellow and orange capsicums are just riper versions of green capsicums. They all have the same macronutrients, as in fibre, protein, carbohydrates.

However, the micronutrients do vary.

In a battle of the capsicums, red would win on phytonutrients and vitamins. Compared to green capsicums, red capsicums have almost 11 times more beta-carotene and one and a half times more vitamin C.

The yellow ones still have more vitamin C than the green ones, but less than the red version.

In short, red, yellow and orange capsicums have higher levels of vitamins and antioxidants, but they are often more expensive. Green capsicums are still a very good source of fibre along with vitamins A, C and E, plus iron and zinc.

Not sure what a capsicum is? They are also known as bell peppers, sweet peppers or peppers in many places.