In article . com>,
"Sheldon" > wrote:

> Steve Wertz wrote:
> > On Sun, 10 Dec 2006 19:16:53 -0600, George Shirley wrote:
> >
> > > Forgot to add that the pepper left in a plastic bag will ripen faster.
> > > The plastic is polyethylene and will still off gas a bit, ethylene gas
> > > will ripen fruit and vegetables. Apples off gas ethylene gas too, so put
> > > an apple in the bag with whatever you want to ripen and it will do so
> > > quicker.
> >
> > I've never had a green pepper ripen after I got it home (nor do
> > they do this at the store), but this sounds a like something to
> > try. Since I much prefer the taste of ripe capsicums over unripe
> > green ones. And the price of green bells are usually 1/3rd the
> > price of ripe ones.
> >
> > My understanding is that the ripe ones are more expensive because
> > picking the peppers earlier encourages new growth. A pepper
> > plant will spit of 2-03 times more peppers when picked green than
> > when picked red (or yellow).
> >
> > Are produce purveyors simply gassing their green peppers to make
> > them red or yellow - givin them the same yeild as the green
> > peppers? If it were that easy, I'd think we's see more of the
> > red and yellows and at a lower price.
>
> To my knowledge bell peppers do not ripen further once picked. I think
> Stan simply didn't notice that the pepper he chose had an orange area,
> and how would he remember correctly after leaving that poor pepper out
> on the counter so many days hidden from view in a plastic bag... I'm
> surprised it hadn't begun to rot... bell pepeprs should be kept
> refrigerated.

The pepper I wrote about was definitely completely green when I bought
it. I am very picky when I select fresh produce. Since I prefer green
peppers over the other kinds of bell peppers, I would not have bought
that pepper if it wasn't completely green.