▼

Bell pepper again, better this time

If you've ever cooked meals with Bell Peppers, odds are you've come across a weird little parasitic twin growing inside the pepper. Well as luck would have it, I managed to image one of those peppers, and we can see the strange little growth. After a little research I can't seem to find it being referred to as anything. If anyone knows what it is called please let me know.

FOLLOW UP:
I extracted the 'strange thing' from inside the Pepper and did a high resolution scan of it...it's still strange.





I have Raspberries, Strawberries and Star fruit coming up...

9 comments:

  1. UdamnGuyDecember 15, 2010 at 2:05 AM

    are you sure it's a parasite? I've seen them too - and eaten them; they taste like bell peppers!

    ReplyDelete
  2. undercover catererDecember 15, 2010 at 11:54 PM

    It looks like a little brain. But I always eat them myself, like I'm getting a special brainy treat!

    ReplyDelete
  3. UnknownDecember 17, 2010 at 8:29 AM

    Did my comment not go through last time? How annoying. It's a teratoma, most likely. In mammalian medicine they're also called 'tumours with hair and teeth'. Generally, teratoma are benign growths that can form all kinds to tissues if an individual. The problem is that those growths are, for the most part, not regulated, so teeth can show up in muscle tissue and the like.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Andy EllisonDecember 17, 2010 at 12:13 PM

    Ill be honest I have no idea what it is. You def may be correct, and i only referred to it as a parasitic twin because it reminded me of one.

    ReplyDelete
  5. UnknownDecember 22, 2010 at 5:19 PM

    I always thought that it was a little bellpepper to be...well I don't know...but looks nice!

    ReplyDelete
  6. UnknownJanuary 7, 2011 at 12:10 AM

    I was told that it was a baby Bell Pepper by my father. Since they are fruit, it makes a lot of sense that occasionally a seed would germinate and start to grow.
    Just checked the internet though, and scientists say that it is indeed a small bell pepper growing from a seed. Fruit growth without fertilization is called parthenocarpy, and is how we get seedless grapes and watermelons.
    Link: http://www.csmonitor.com/The-Culture/Gardening/diggin-it/2010/0401/Have-you-ever-found-a-pepper-inside-a-pepper

    ReplyDelete
  7. UnknownJanuary 8, 2011 at 4:27 PM

    It's like a fruit fractal. I've seen this in many oranges I've eaten too.

    ReplyDelete
  8. AlyssMarch 1, 2011 at 1:33 PM

    I think the little parasite pepper inside the big one is weird too, but delicious. The scan is neat.. how it looks just exactly like slices of bell peppers that we eat!

    ReplyDelete
  9. Tom NoirJuly 23, 2011 at 12:52 AM

    That little pepper inside a bigger pepper is called an “internal proliferation.” Its form can vary from irregular and contorted to a near-perfect but sterile fruit.

    A pepper growing inside a pepper is a type of parthenocarpy, which is the formation of fruits without fertilization or the formation of seeds. No one is sure what causes them, but temperature and nutrient levels have been ruled out.

    ReplyDelete