What Is a VineSweet Mini Pepper?

History

• In the 1990s, the company Bionova Produce Inc. developed the proprietary VineSweet® MiniPeppers, a hybrid cross of the bell and chili peppers. VineSweet® MiniPeppers are marketed and distributed by Master's Touch, a partnership of several companies, including Bionova Produce and Frank's Distribution. VineSweet® MiniPeppers are grown and harvested in fields located in northwestern Mexico. Then the peppers are exported to the United States to be packaged and distributed throughout the United States and Canada.

Description

• VineSweet® MiniPeppers are available in yellow, red and orange, usually pre-packaged in groups of four or more. The pepper is small, the size of a finger or thumb, and shaped similar to many hot peppers. The taste of VineSweet® MiniPeppers is not hot and spicy, however, but sweet, like a bell pepper. The flesh of VineSweet® MiniPeppers is thick, crisp and firm, even after cooking. VineSweet® MiniPeppers contain few seeds for easy preparation. Refrigerated, VineSweet® MiniPeppers can remain fresh and crisp for up to two weeks.

Growing

• The proprietary VineSweet® MiniPeppers seeds for gardeners are not commercially available. You may attempt to harvest the few seeds in the fruit for planting, but it will not taste the same as the original. This is because VineSweet® MiniPeppers are created from a cross-pollination of two different peppers. The resulting seed will have characteristics of both parent plants, but at unknown amounts. The VineSweet® MiniPeppers you grow will not be as sweet-tasting, may have a spicier, hot flavor and may be larger. When you harvest and grow a seed from any hybrid plant, you will never reproduction the original fruit the seed came from, but the resulting product usually is a pleasant surprise.

Uses

• VineSweet® MiniPeppers are sodium, cholesterol and fat-free, low in calories and high in vitamin C for a healthy addition to recipes or snacks. Because of the pepper's small size, minimal seeds and sweet flavor the peppers can be easily eaten raw. The crisp texture of the pepper, both when raw or cooked, is particularly appealing and sets it apart from other pepper varieties. Added to salads, appetizers, stir-fry or any other culinary dish, the pepper will stay crunchy with a sweet flavor.