A viral tweet set social media on fire this week and it was all about peppers. Bell peppers and hot peppers, as you likely know, come in many different colors. The post claims they're all actually the same plant, no matter what color they are.
Hundreds of interactions, and a little newsroom debate, prompted our Verify team to find out the truth behind the tasty tweet.
To find some clarity, we turned to Amanda McWhirt, a fruit and vegetable production expert. She's an assistant professor of horticulture and is part of the University of Arkansas extension service.
"You can get a green bell pepper and a red bell pepper off the same plant," she said.
If that sounds confusing, you're not alone. The viral tweet made fiery rounds on social media. It read: "I've just found out that green peppers turn yellow then orange then red and they're actually all the same pepper just less ripe and my mind is blown."
McWhirt verified that the tweet is true. They're all the same -- bell peppers and hot peppers start growing one color and it's possible that they've turned another color by the time they're ready to be eaten.
"So if you go to your local grocery store and buy a red and a green bell pepper, those red and green peppers could've been produced on the same plant. The only difference being the green pepper is immature, and the red pepper is mature, so it just stayed on the plant a little bit longer period of time and eventually became red," she said.
Typically peppers start out green, then turn a light yellow color, then orange, then red. McWhirt said they can be picked at any time during their life cycle -- green being younger, red being ripest. Their taste also changes.
"As those peppers reach maturity, the vitamin content actually changes. Red pepper has a higher vitamin A content and tastes different, usually sweeter than a green bell pepper," she said.
To verify, different seeds aren't planted to get different color peppers. They come from the same plant. They are simply picked at different stages of maturity, with green being immature, and red being ripe.
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