Healthy food The first fresh pepper is here

First domestic pepper is here
More and more regional fruits and vegetables are now ripe and can be found on the markets. The asparagus harvest is already in the second half and now the first domestic peppers are sold. Whether red, green, yellow or orange: The vegetables are healthy, have few calories but many vitamins.

First peppers are harvested in Brandenburg
Currently, the first grown under glass peppers are harvested in Brandenburg. In a message from the news agency dpa, the managing director of the Brandenburg fruit and vegetable grower Werder Frucht, Petra Lack, said that there are five to eight tons per day. Depending on the type, it is mostly red fruits. The company has the vegetables according to the information this year for the first time in the program. According to the company, with an investment of about seven million euros on almost five acres of greenhouses in Bralitz at Bad Freienwalde in Märkisch-Oderland.

Only about two percent from domestic production
The company from Werder wanted to go into the paprika cultivation already ten years ago, but due to lack of demand the project was put on ice. "Whether it will pay off this time, we decide at the end of the season," explained Lack. The harvest is expected to run in the greenhouses by autumn. Only about two percent of the nearly 300,000 tons of peppers sold nationwide in 2013 were from domestic production. On about 64 hectares, the plants are under glass, especially in Baden-Württemberg. The vegetables that can be found in German shops comes mainly from Dutch and Southern European suppliers.

Peppers are among the most vitamin C rich foods
No matter what kind of color the vegetables have, paprika is healthy and one of the most vitamin C-rich foods in the world. In addition, the vegetables are rich in vitamins A and B and have large amounts of potassium, magnesium, zinc and calcium. Already half a paprika is enough to cover the daily vitamin C need. So you can well strengthen the immune system. In addition, in paprika flavonoids are present, which have an antioxidant effect and thus a major impact on human health. In the body, they react as so-called radical scavengers and reduce the risk of certain diseases. For example, increases in flavonoid intake the risk of dying from cardiovascular disease.

Vegetables need a lot of heat and light
For vegetable growers, peppers (Capsicum annuumm) are challenging because the nightshade plant needs a lot of heat and light. The cultivation succeeds professionally only under glass, it is said. Paprika became popular in Germany only after the Second World War. The fruit and vegetable grower from Werder emerged after the end of the GDR. On a total of 500 hectares are fruit trees and shrubs and strawberry plants. In addition, the company, which employs 150 people, markets bananas, preserves, wines and juices. (ad): birgitH