Mavras Hybrid

Mavras Hybrid is a sweet bell pepper bred for very dark immature fruit colour. Pods develop a deep black to dark purple tone before ripening fully red. The dark colour comes from high anthocyanin expression in the skin during early stages.

Pods are blocky bells, typically 7.5–12.5 cm long and 7.5–10 cm wide, borne pendant on the plant. Walls are thick and firm. Plants are usually about 45.5–61 cm tall.

Maturity is commonly listed around 70–80 days after transplanting for early harvest, with full red colour developing later. Some catalogues list about 72–75 days to first harvest.

It is consistently marketed as a sweet pepper with no measurable heat. “Black bell” refers only to the immature fruit colour.

Commercial seed company listings trace Mavras to Dutch breeding programmes. The name appears in European catalogues before becoming widely distributed in North America, supporting a Netherlands origin rather than a United States origin.

Many listings state resistance to tobacco mosaic virus (TMV). Some provide resistance codes while others only state mosaic virus resistant. Exact resistance details vary by seller, but no strong contradictory claims were found. Public breeder release documentation is limited, and most online references appear in early 2000s retail seed trade.