Food News: Despite What TikTok Says, Peppers Don’t Have Genders

@shiftpixylabs Which do you prefer? Male or female? #bellpeppers #pepperfacts #grocerystoresecrets #cheftips #kicthentips #cookinghack ♬ Sleep Walk – Santo and Johnny

What is it about TikTok that makes everyone want to believe EVERYTHING they see… despite ALL those “hacks” that don’t actually work?

A clip has gone viral, claiming that “male and female peppers are meant to be eaten differently.”

The video claims:  THREE BUMPS on the bottom of a bell pepper means it’s male, and is better for cooking.  FOUR BUMPS means it’s female, and it should be eaten raw because it’s sweeter.

That’s FALSE.  Peppers are fruits, and don’t have different genders.

The different number of bumps don’t have any significance, and just signal a different variety of seed or different growing conditions.

The bumps also don’t matter for the taste, although the COLOR does.  Green bell peppers are just harvested before they ripen, so yellow, orange, and red ones will be sweeter, since they’re ripened.

SOURCES: Newsweek / The University of Arkansas, Agriculture