Pepper Trees

Pepper is the dried fruit of a vine, Piper nigrum, that is native to the east Indies and is cultivated in Indonesia, Malaysia, India, Brazil, Madagascar, and Sri Lanka. A pungent spice and a stimulant, pepper has been highly valued for centuries. European demand for pepper was a factor in the 15th century search for ocean routes to the spices growing east. Black pepper is the dried, unripe berry, or peppercorn; white pepper, which has a milder flavor hull has been removed.

pepper tree

Black pepper is produced from the still-green unripe berries of the pepper plant. The berries are cooked briefly in hot water, both to clean them and to prepare them for drying. The heat ruptures cell walls in the pepper, speeding the work of browning enzymes during drying. The berries are dried in the sun or by machine for several days, during which the pepper around the seed shrinks and darkens into a thin, wrinkled black layer. Once dried, the spice is called black peppercorn.