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Are red bell peppers higher in vitamin C than green ones?

Peppers, bell, red, raw has 1.4× more vitamin C per 100 g, 141.7 mg against 99.5 mg in Peppers, bell, green, raw. That is 157% of the Daily Value against 111%.

Vitamin C per 100 g, as a share of the Daily Value
100% DVPeppers, bell, red, rawPeppers, bell, red, raw: 157% DV157%Peppers, bell, green, rawPeppers, bell, green, raw: 111% DV111%

Daily Value 90 mg. Per 100 g, so the two are directly comparable.

Per 100 gPeppers, bell, red, rawPeppers, bell, green, raw
Energy27 kcal20 kcal
Protein0.9 g0.71 g
Total fat0.13 g0.11 g
Carbohydrate6.65 g4.78 g
Dietary fiber1.16 g0.94 g
Vitamin C141.7 mg99.5 mg

What this means for you

Red is ahead, 142 mg against 100 mg per 100 g, and both of them clear an adult's daily requirement in a single serving. Against that, the gap is a detail.

What matters more than the colour is whether the pepper is raw. Vitamin C dissolves in water and is destroyed by heat, so a roasted pepper hands over less than the number here and a raw one hands over close to it. If you are eating peppers with vitamin C in mind, the sliced ones next to lunch do more than the ones in the oven.

Red peppers are green peppers left on the plant longer, which is why they cost more and taste sweeter. On vitamin C the ripening earns you something real, and on your daily total it changes almost nothing, because you were already past the requirement with either one.

The group this page is genuinely useful for is people who eat very little fresh produce. If a handful of raw pepper strips is the one raw thing that makes it onto your plate, the colour is the least important decision you are making.

Written from the evidence cards and the data on this page, then checked back against the sources. Bioma Learn has no human medical reviewer at this time and we say so rather than invent one. Information, not medical advice. How we verify.

The comparison is per 100 g of edible portion, so the two foods sit on the same footing. Real portions differ, and so does how much of the nutrient your body actually absorbs from each food. The guide below has the absorption details.

Peppers, bell, red, raw → · Peppers, bell, green, raw →

Full guide: Vitamin C: what it does, how much you need, and what it will not do

Data: USDA FoodData Central, FDC IDs 2258590 and 2258588. Checked 2026-09-15.