Bell Pepper

The SWAN study is a multisite, multiethnic longitudinal study of midlife women in the United States (11 ). The Newark, NJ, SWAN site enrolled Spanish-speaking participants. The methods used in the development of the SWAN questionnaire have been described previously (12 (link),13 (link)). The SWAN FFQs are modifications of the 1995 version of the Block FFQ. In the SWAN study, four versions of the FFQs were prepared (English only and three bilingual versions that combined English with Spanish, Chinese, or Japanese). The core food list, used for all ethnic groups, contained 103 food items identified based on the responses of African American and white participants in the Second National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES II) (14 ). The Spanish-language version included the 103-item core food list, plus nine additional foods appropriate for several Hispanic subgroups. Four of the 103 foods are more important in the diets of Cuban and Puerto Rican Americans than in the diets of Mexican Americans (evaporated and condensed milk; pudding and flan; viandas, plantain, and cassava; and sauces such as mole and sofrito). Five are more important in the diets of Mexican Americans than in the diets of the other two groups (corn tortillas, flour tortillas, cooked green peppers and chile rellenos, avocado and guacamole, and chile peppers and hot chile sauce) (J. Norris, unpublished data, 1996). The additional foods were identified as important in the diets of Hispanics on the basis of their nutrient contribution in NHANES II and the Hispanic HANES (15 (link)). In addition, focus groups were conducted among Hispanic volunteers to ensure that the descriptions of the foods captured the forms in which they were commonly eaten.
For most foods, the frequency-of-consumption categories permitted a maximum frequency of "every day." Breads and some snacks could be reported as eaten up to twice per day, and beverages up to five or more glasses or cans per day. Participants were asked about portion size (with four response categories) for each food. For unitary items (e.g., slices of bread), respondents were asked how many were eaten each time. For nonunitary items, the original SWAN study used three-dimensional portion size models; for our study, the Block portion-size graphic was used to facilitate quantification of amounts (16 ).

First, we aggregated 138 food items from the the FFQ into 30 food groups (in Table 1) based on their similarity in nutrients and earlier studies [15 (link)] in China.We then conducted the factor analysis (principal component) on the 30 food groups to identify dietary patterns. The obtained factors were rotated using orthogonal rotation so that the factors(dietary patterns) were uncorrelated with each other and were easier to interpret.The eigenvalue and scree plot were applied to decide which factors remained [16 (link)]. After evaluating the eigenvalues, the scree plot test, and interpretability, factors with an eigenvalues ≥ 2.0 were retained. Individual food items with a factor loading ≥ |0.4| were considered to significantly contribute to the pattern in this study. The labeling of dietary patterns was based on the interpretation of foods with high factor loadings for each dietary pattern [17 (link)]. Factor scores were categorized into quartiles (Q1 represented a low intake of the food pattern; Q4 represented a high intake of the food pattern).Table 1

Food grouping used in the dietary pattern analyses

Food groups	Food items
Refined grains	Rice, porridge, rice in soup, noodles,instant noodles,steamed bun, wonton, dumplings,white breads, toasted bread
Whole grains	Corn, sorghum, millet, oats
Tubers	Sweet potato, potato, taro
Vegetables	Wild vegetables, green vegetable, spinach, green peppers, tomato Chinese cabbage, radish, cucumer, eggplant
Fruit	Apple,pears, peach, apricots, cherries, grapes, bananas, cantaloupe, watermelon, oranges, grapefruit, kiwi,strawberries and et al.
Pickled vegetables	Salted vegetables, Chinese sauerkraut
Mushrooms	Mushroom, shiitakes, enoki
Red meat	Pork, mutton, beef
Poultry and organs	Chicken, duck, liver, animal blood
Processed and cooked meat	Ham and sausage, sauced pork, roast duck
Fish and shrimp	Fish, shrimp
Eggs	Duck eggs, chicken eggs
Seafood	Sea fish, shrimp, crab,squid, jellyfis, shellfish
Bacon and salted fish	Salted meat and duck, salted fish
Salted and preserved eggs	Salted duck and chicken eggs, preserved eggs
milk	Liquid milk, milk powder, yoghurt
Cheese	Cheese
Soya bean and its products	Tofu, dried bean curd, soy milk
Miscellaneous bean	Mung beans, red beans, hemp beans
Fats	Lard, butter
Vegetable oil	Soybean oil, tea oil, rapeseed oil, olive oil
Fast foods	KFC, Mcdonald,fried dough sticks and twists, fried cakes,pizza
Nuts	Walnut, peanuts, almonds, melon seeds
Snacks	Cookies, sachima, bread, cake, ice cream, candy, sweets,potato chips, shrimp roll, popcorn
Chocolates	Chocolates
Honey	Honey, hydromel
Drinks	Coca-cola, sprite, fruit and vegetable drink, fruits juice
Alcoholic beverages	Beer, fruit wine, grape wine
Tea	Tea,scented tea, wong Lo Kat
Coffee	Coffee

Three major dietary patterns were extracted: the traditional southern Chinese dietary pattern (high in refined grains, vegetables, fruits, pickled vegetables, fish and shrimp, bacon and salted fish, salted and preserved eggs, milk, soya bean and its products, miscellaneous bean, fats, and drinks), the Western dietary pattern (high in red meats, poultry and organs, processed and cooked meat, eggs, seafood, cheese, fast foods, snacks, chocolates, alcoholic beverages, and coffee), and the grains-vegetables dietary pattern (high in whole grains, tubers, vegetables, mushrooms, vegetable oil, nuts, honey, and tea).

We performed a secondary data analysis using the National Diet and Nutrition Survey (NDNS) nutrient database year 11 (2018/19)^{(15 –17 )}. The NDNS nutrient databank contains compositional data from the nearly 6000 foods, drinks and prepared dishes available in the UK, including home-cooked and ready meals. Of these, we selected all main course meals, chilled or frozen, that needed to be heated prior to consumption, sold within a container, and had an equivalent home-cooked version in the NDNS nutrient database. As a result, we included fifty-four main courses with data on nutrient profile, and on frequency of consumption over 4 d, in 444 participants (Table 1).
Table 1

Ready meal dishes, and home-cooked equivalent dishes, including frequency of consumption, GHGE and cost per dish

Ready meals				Home-cooked equivalent meals
Food name	Frequency*	GHGE†	Cost‡	Food name	Frequency*	GHGE†	Cost‡
Animal-based
Beef and potato pie	2	1543	0·51	Beef and potato pie 2 crusts	0	433	0·96
Beef stew and dumplings frozen or chilled ready meal	1	1400	0·87	Beef stew and dumplings	0	390	0·56
Beef stir fry with green peppers and black bean sauce	0	1280	1·36	Beef stir fry	0	1150	0·55
Minced beef pie purchased	4	1200	0·62	Minced beef pie top pastry	0	706	0·96
Steak pie, short crust, purchased	3	1200	0·84	Steak pie pastry top only	0	797	0·19
Cornish pasty purchased	10	1200	0·44	Cornish pasty homemade	0	508	0·14
Corned beef pasty purchased	0	1200	0·66	Corned beef pasty	0	508	0·14
Lamb bhuna purchased	0	1180	1·00	Lamb curry (no potatoes) with onions and curry pas	0	1019	1·20
Tagliatelle carbonara ready meal	1	1110	0·37	Spaghetti carbonara	0	431	0·74
Chilli con carne no rice ready meal	0	1070	0·37	Chilli con carne minced beef kid beans and tin tom	2	433	0·16
Cottage pie, frozen/chilled beef	4	1040	0·64	Cottage pie	0	285	0·22
Cottage pie, reduced fat, ready meal	0	1040	0·28	Cottage pie with lean minced beef, potatoes and butter	0	285	0·22
Lasagne beef, ready meal	5	1000	0·66	Lasagne homemade	1	497	0·24
Lasagne, reduced fat, ready meal	1	1000	0·66	Lasagne made with extra lean mince	0	497	0·24
Beef curry frozen/chilled ready meal no rice	1	900	0·25	Beef curry with cream or coconut sauce	0	242	0·32
Shepherd’s pie, lamb, ready meal	0	880	0·65	Shepherd’s pie homemade with minced lamb	0	485	0·48
Beef hot pot with pots ready meal	1	810	0·56	Beef hot pot made with stewing steak carrots cab	0	498	0·56
Moussaka ready meal chill/frozen/long life	1	670	0·87	Moussaka with aubergines homemade	0	678	0·36
Chicken curry frozen chilled no rice	3	670	0·2	Chicken curry homemade	6	553	0·62
Lamb hot pot with potatoes ready meal	0	670	0·87	Lamb hot pot	0	590	0·48
Lemon chicken	0	530	1·00	Lemon chicken – chicken breasts in sauce	1	463	1·25
Chicken chow mein ready meal	3	530	0·70	Chicken Chow Mein	3	401	0·87
Quiche, meat-based, Quiche Lorraine not low fat	12	491	0·58	Quiche Lorraine not wholemeal	0	611	0·52
Fishcakes, salmon, retail, coated in breadcrumbs, baked/grilled	5	460	0·74	Salmon fishcakes grilled	0	209	1·20
Smoked haddock chowder, for example M&S	0	460	0·44	Fish and seafood chowder	2	256	0·58
Tuna and pasta bake ready meal	0	460	0·68	Tuna and pasta bake	0	498	0·39
Sweet and sour pork frozen ready meal no rice	0	460	1·10	Sweet and sour pork	0	360	0·58
Chicken and sweetcorn soup	1	410	0·21	Chicken and veg soup with carrot potato and onion	0	147	0·19
Chicken pie frozen/chilled individual two crusts	7	400	0·37	Chicken pie 2 crusts	0	525	0·62
Chicken in white sauce ham mushroom and rice	0	400	0·85	Chicken and mushrooms in white wine sauce	1	507	0·53
Chicken and pasta bake with broccoli, low fat	0	400	0·68	Chicken and broccoli pasta bake	0	650	0·65
Chicken casserole chicken in tomato/gravy/sauce and vegetables	0	400	0·62	Chicken and vegetable casserole with olive oil	0	345	0·23
Fisherman’s pie (white fish) retail	2	400	0·5	Fisherman’s pie (potato based) with cod and prawns	0	265	0·96
Fisherman’s pie reduced calorie and fat retail	0	400	0·5	Fisherman’s pie with prawns and smoked haddock	0	265	0·96
Tuna and red pepper fish cakes	0	329	1·0	Tuna and potato fish cakes	0	215	0·21
Plant-based
Macaroni cheese ready meal low fat	4	1110	0·20	Macaroni cheese semi skim milk and reduced fat spread	1	407	0·25
Macaroni cheese purchased	3	1110	0·22	Macaroni cheese with butter and semi-skimmed milk	0	407	0·25
Broccoli and stilton soup, premium, chilled carton	0	1110	0·11	Broccoli and cheese soup homemade	0	203	0·18
Quiche, cheese and onion, purchased	13	491	0·58	Cheese and onion quiche homemade	0	479	0·38
Cheese and vegetable quiche purchased	1	491	0·57	Cheese and tomato quiche	1	476	0·38
Quiche, vegetable only, no cheese, purchased	1	491	0·58	Cauliflower and broccoli quiche	0	658	0·38
Mushroom soup, premium, chilled, carton	1	480	0·18	Homemade mushroom soup	0	107	0·18
Vegetable curry, ready meal, no rice	0	280	0·66	Vegetable curry	3	123	0·29
Ross veg chow mein stir-fried in olive oil	0	270	0·54	Vegetable Chow Mein	0	316	0·25
Vegetable lasagne purchased	0	260	0·87	Vegetable lasagne homemade	1	241	0·32
Vegetable bake purchased ready meal	0	260	0·37	Vegetable bake with carrots, broccoli, potatoes and cheese sauce	0	120	0·21
Cauliflower cheese: ready meal purchased standard	2	220	0·67	Cauliflower cheese (whole milk)	0	279	0·20
Cauliflower cheese: healthy range ready meal purchased	0	220	0·67	Cauliflower cheese with butter and semi-skimmed milk	0	279	0·20
Vegetable shepherd’s pie – purchased ready meal	0	220	0·27	Vegetable shepherd’s pie	0	265	0·21
Spinach and potato curry purchased or takeaway	1	180	0·66	Spinach and potato curry with tomatoes and onion	0	123	0·29
Vegetable soup carton	6	150	0·18	Soup vegetable	0	56	0·21
Carrot and coriander soup, purchased	2	150	0·12	Carrot and onion soup homemade	0	58	0·04
Cream of tomato soup, carton	1	150	0·25	Tomato soup with cream, homemade	0	110	0·19
Ratatouille frozen purchased	0	120	0·66	Ratatouille homemade	1	155	0·25

*

Frequency of consumption across all participant’s (n 444, NDNS 2018/2019) 4-d dietary recalls.

†

GHGE per 100 g of product up to supermarket shelf.

‡

Cost per 100 g of product.

Two C. annuum L. cultivars previously released by the New Mexico State University (NMSU) Chile Pepper Breeding and Genetics Program, viz., ‘NuMex Pumpkin Spice’ (a jalapeño type) [22 (link)] and ‘NuMex LotaLutein’ (a serrano type), [23 (link)] were used in this study (Figure 1). The ‘NuMex Pumpkin Spice’ originated from the hybridization between the ‘Permagreen’ bell pepper and ‘Early Jalapeno’ and was developed using a pedigree breeding approach with three generations of backcrossing to a jalapeño fruit type, followed by multiple cycles of single plant selections [22 (link)]. ‘NuMex LotaLutein’ is a biofortified serrano pepper with improved lutein content and was derived from a segregating F₂ population resulting from selfing a commercial F₁ hybrid serrano cultivar [23 (link)]. ‘NuMex Pumpkin Spice’ has a characteristic deep orange (i.e., ‘pumpkin’-like) color, whereas ‘NuMex LotaLutein’ has a distinct yellow color.
The cultivars were transplanted at the Amy Goldman Flower Chile Pepper Institute Teaching Garden, Fabián García Science Center, Las Cruces, NM, USA. Three mature fruits from three individual plants (representing three biological replicates) from each cultivar were sampled ~130 days after transplanting (~190 days after initial sowing in the greenhouse). Fruit samples were subsequently freeze-dried for ~48 h using a Labconco Freeze Dry System (Labconco Corporation, Kansas City, MO, USA) and were sent to MetWare^® Bio, MA, USA (https://www.metwarebio.com/ (accessed on 4 November 2022)) for processing and metabolomics analyses.

Thirteen cultivars were created in the period 2012–2021, seven of which were fruit vegetables, two roots, and one a tuber vegetable, and there were two cultivars to the onion group. Mass and individual selection were for developing the sweet pepper cultivar ‘Gabija’, Jerusalem artichoke cultivar ‘Sauliai’, tomato ‘Alvita’ garlic ‘Dangiai’, and onion ‘Joriai’. The new carrot hybrids ‘Ieva’, ‘Rokita’, and ‘Jola’ were developed by crossing the lines with cytoplasmic male sterility (CMS) and constant lines. Heterosis methods were applied for the development of tomato ‘Adas’, ‘Ainiai’, ‘Auksiai’, and cucumber ‘Roliai’ hybrids. Breeding material and newly created cultivars were improved according to their productivity, biochemical composition, storability, and also transportability, and resistance to biotic and abiotic factors.