Black pepper

Black pepper (Piper nigrum) is a flowering vine belonging to the Piperaceae family. It is grown for its fruit, the peppercorn, which is typically dried and used as a spice and seasoning. The fruit is a drupe, or stone fruit, about 5 mm (¼ inch) across when fresh and fully ripe, dark red, and containing a single seed inside a stone. Peppercorns and ground pepper are often simply called pepper, but more specifically, black pepper refers to cooked and dried unripe fruit, green pepper to dried unripe fruit, and white pepper to the seeds of ripe fruit.

Native to South Asia, black pepper has been used since ancient times, both for flavor and in traditional medicine. It is one of the most widely traded spices globally. Its spiciness comes from the chemical compound piperine, which is distinct from the capsaicin found in chili peppers. In the Western world, it is a common seasoning, often paired with salt and available on dining tables in shakers or mills.

**Etymology** The word pepper comes from Old English *pipor*, Latin *piper*, and Greek *πέπερι*, with the Greek likely derived from Sanskrit. By the 16th century, the term was also applied to New World chili peppers (genus *Capsicum*), which are not closely related.

**Description** The pepper plant is a perennial woody vine that can grow up to 4 m (13 ft) tall, climbing on trees, poles, or trellises. It spreads easily, rooting wherever trailing stems touch the ground. Leaves are alternate, entire, 5 to 10 cm (2 to 4 in) long and 3 to 6 cm (1 to 2½ in) wide. Flowers are small and grow on pendulous spikes 4 to 8 cm (1½ to 3 in) long at leaf nodes; these spikes lengthen to 7 to 15 cm (2¾ to 6 in) as fruit matures. A single stem can bear 20 to 30 fruiting spikes. The fruit is a drupe, and when dried, it is called a peppercorn. Within the genus *Piper*, black pepper is most closely related to other Asian species like *P. caninum*.

**Varieties** Processed peppercorns come in several colors, all used in cooking, including in peppercorn sauce.

- **Black pepper:** Made from still-green, unripe drupes. These are briefly cooked in hot water to clean them and prepare them for drying. The heat ruptures cell walls, accelerating enzymes that cause browning during drying. The drupes are then dried in the sun or by machine for several days, causing the skin to shrink and darken into a thin, wrinkled black layer containing melanoidin. Once dry, it is called black peppercorn. Grinding yields pepper powder, and essential oil can be extracted.

- **White pepper:** Consists only of the seed from ripe fruit, with the darker skin removed. This is usually done by retting: fully ripe red berries are soaked in water for about a week until the flesh softens and decomposes, then rubbed off. The naked seed is dried. Other mechanical, chemical, or biological methods may also be used. Ground white pepper is common in Chinese, Thai, and Portuguese cuisines, and occasionally in salads, light sauces, and mashed potatoes where black pepper would be visible. It lacks certain compounds from the outer layer, giving a different flavor.

- **Green pepper:** Made from unripe drupes, like black pepper. Dried green peppercorns are treated to retain their green color, using methods such as sulfur dioxide, canning, or freeze-drying. Pickled green peppercorns are unripe drupes preserved in brine or vinegar. Fresh, unpreserved green drupes are used in Thai and Tamil cuisines, described as spicy and fresh with a bright aroma, but they decay quickly if not dried or preserved, making them unsuitable for international shipping.

- **Red peppercorns:** Usually ripe drupes preserved in brine and vinegar. They can also be dried using color-preserving techniques similar to those for green pepper.

- **Pink pepper and other plants:** Pink peppercorns come from the Peruvian pepper tree (*Schinus molle*) or the Brazilian pepper tree (*Schinus terebinthifolius*), which are in a different family (Anacardiaceae). As members of the cashew family, they can cause allergic reactions, including anaphylaxis, in people with tree nut allergies. The bark of *Drimys winteri* (canelo or winter's bark) is used as a pepper substitute in cold and temperate parts of Chile and Argentina. In New Zealand, seeds of kawakawa (*Piper excelsum*), a relative of black pepper, are sometimes used, as are leaves of *Pseudowintera colorata* (mountain horopito). In the United States, substitutes include field pepperwort, least pepperwort, shepherd's purse, horseradish, and field pennycress.

**Distribution and habitat** Black pepper is native to either Southeast Asia or South Asia, possibly including the Malabar Coast of India, where Malabar pepper is widely cultivated. Wild pepper grows in the Western Ghats region of India. Into the 19th century, forests there contained expansive wild pepper vines, as noted by Scottish botanist Francis Buchanan. Deforestation has since limited wild pepper to more restricted forest areas.