Black pepper

Lore & Background

Black pepper is a perennial woody vine growing up to 4 m in height on supporting trees, poles, or trellises. It is a spreading vine that roots readily where trailing stems touch the ground. The leaves are alternate, entire, 5 to 10 cm long and 3 to 6 cm across. The flowers are small, produced on pendulous spikes 4 to 8 cm long at the leaf nodes, which lengthen up to 7 to 15 cm as the fruit matures. The fruit is a drupe about 5 mm in diameter when fresh and fully mature, dark red, containing a single seed. Black pepper is produced from still-green, unripe drupes that are cooked briefly in hot water, then dried in the sun or by machine, causing the skin to shrink and darken into a thin, wrinkled black layer. White pepper consists solely of the seed of the ripe fruit, with the skin removed through retting or other methods. Green pepper is made from unripe drupes treated to retain green color, such as with sulphur dioxide, canning, or freeze-drying. The plants are propagated by cuttings and bear fruit from the fourth or fifth year, typically for seven years.

Reader's Guide

Its spiciness comes from piperine, a compound distinct from capsaicin in chilli peppers. The word 'pepper' derives from Old English pipor, Latin piper, and Greek πέπερι, likely from Dravidian pippali meaning 'long pepper'. In the 16th century, the term was extended to New World chilli peppers (genus Capsicum), which are not closely related. Black pepper is ubiquitous in Western cuisine, often paired with salt and available on dining tables in shakers or mills.

Did You Know?

• Black pepper's spiciness is due to piperine, which is chemically different from capsaicin in chilli peppers.
• The word 'pepper' likely derives from the Dravidian word 'pippali', meaning 'long pepper'.
• White pepper is made from the seed of ripe fruit with the skin removed through retting.
• Pink peppercorns are not from black pepper but from the Peruvian pepper tree (Schinus molle), which is in the cashew family.