Description: The paprika pepper is a large, cone-shaped chili pepper. It is typically dried and ground to make the more familiar powdered spice. It is originally from Hungary. The paprika is a fairly large red pepper and quite long, growing up to 8 inches, and lends a unique spiciness to paprika powder. is a spice made from dried and ground red peppers. It is traditionally made from Capsicum annuum varietals in the Longum group, which also includes chili peppers, but the peppers used for paprika tend to be milder and have thinner flesh. Paprika can range from mild to hot – the flavor also varies from country to country – but almost all plants grown produce the sweet variety. Sweet paprika is mostly composed of the pericarp, with more than half of the seeds removed, whereas hot paprika contains some seeds, stalks, ovules, and calyces. The red, orange, or yellow colour of paprika is due to its content of carotenoids.
Health benefits:
- Paprika contains capsaicin, a compound found in peppers that has been shown to have a wide range of health benefits. For example, it has antioxidant properties, can help reduce the risk of cancer and heart disease, improve immunity, and even alleviate gas.
- Capsaicin has been shown to have analgesic effects, and it is used therapeutically for pain management. Some topical pain treatments include capsaicin as an ingredient.
- The capsaicin in paprika may have anti-obesity and appetite-suppressing properties. Studies have shown that it improves fat metabolism, especially the oxidation of abdominal fat. Capsaicin may also reduce appetite and caloric intake when incorporated as part of a healthy diet.
- Other compounds in paprika called xanthophylls also show the ability to reduce abdominal fat and BMI.
- Incorporating paprika into your diet may help protect your skin from the damaging effects of the sun. In a double-blind placebo-controlled study, dietary paprika xanthophylls suppressed UV-induced skin damage.
- Several studies point to the anti-cancer effects of capsaicin. Incorporating capsaicin-containing paprika into your diet may provide protection against a wide variety of cancers.
Locations of harvest:
Time period of harvest:
Harvest process: Paprika is cultivated throughout most of the world for its pods, often called chili peppers, or chilies. The species includes most of the sweet peppers and many of the pungent, strong-flavoured types. Depending on the variety, the pods may be 0.5 inch to 1 foot (12.5 mm to 0.3 m) in length, with a long, round, or conical shape, and yellow, brown, purple, or red colour. A spongy central column bears the flat, kidney-shaped seeds. Crops are planted in early spring and harvested in the summer and fall when the pods are glossy and ripe. The pods are then dried and ground to produce paprika. When mild paprikas are made, the central core is first removed.
Dehydration process: The traditional method of drying peppers is to hang them in a hot, dry room out of direct sunlight. Drying under the sun will bleach away the colour, and humidity may promote mould. A food dehydrator is used to turn the fruit into the bright red powder that paprika is associated with. One must cut the fruit open and remove the seeds. Lay the fruit on a baking tray in the dehydrator machine and bake in the oven at 100C for several hours, turning several times. The fruit is dry when it feels brittle. The peppers can then be ground in a special compression machine in accordance with the standards as required.