Black pepper (Piper nigrum) is afloweringvine in the familyPiperaceae, cultivated for itsfruit (thepeppercorn), which is usually dried and used as aspice andseasoning. The fruit is adrupe (stonefruit) which is about 5 mm (1⁄4 in) in diameter (fresh and fully mature), dark red, and contains astone which encloses a single pepperseed. Peppercorns and the ground pepper derived from them may be described simply aspepper, or more precisely asblack pepper (cooked and dried unripe fruit),green pepper (dried unripe fruit), orwhite pepper (ripe fruit seeds).[2]
Black pepper is native toSoutheast orSouth Asia. Ground, dried, and cooked peppercorns have been used since antiquity, both for flavour and as atraditional medicine. Black pepper is one of the most commonly traded spices in the world. Its spiciness is due to the chemical compoundpiperine, which is a different kind of spiciness from that ofcapsaicin characteristic ofchilli peppers. It is ubiquitous in the Western world as a seasoning and is often paired withsalt and available on dining tables inshakers ormills.
The wordpepper derives fromOld Englishpipor,Latinpiper, andGreek:πέπερι.[3] The Greek likely derives fromDravidianpippali, meaning "long pepper".[4]Sanskritpippali shares the same meaning.[3]
In the 16th century, people began usingpepper to also mean theNew Worldchilli pepper (genusCapsicum), which is not closely related.[3]: 2b
Black pepper vine climbing onjackfruit tree (Artocarpus heterophyllus)
The pepper plant is aperennial woody vine growing up to 4 m (13 ft) in height on supporting trees, poles, or trellises. It is a spreading vine, rooting readily where trailing stems touch the ground. Theleaves are alternate, entire, 5 to 10 cm (2 to 4 in) long and3 to 6 cm (1 to2+1⁄2 in) across.[citation needed]
The flowers are small, produced on pendulous spikes4 to 8 cm (1+1⁄2 to 3 in) long at the leaf nodes, the spikes lengthening up to7 to 15 cm (2+3⁄4 to 6 in) as the fruit matures.[5][better source needed] A single stem bears 20 to 30 fruiting spikes. The fruit of the black pepper is a drupe and when dried is known as a peppercorn.[citation needed]
Single stem with flowers
Within the genusPiper, black pepper is most closely related to other Asian species such asP. caninum.[6]
Black pepper is produced from the still-green, unripe drupe of the pepper plant.[2] The drupes are cooked briefly in hot water, both to clean them and to prepare them for drying.[8] The heat rupturescell walls in the pepper, acceleratingenzymes that causebrowning during drying.[8]
The pepper drupes can also be dried in the sun or by machine for several days, during which the pepper skin around the seed shrinks and darkens into a thin, wrinkled black layer containingmelanoidin.[8] Once dry, the spice is called black peppercorn. After the peppercorns are dried, pepper powder for culinary uses is obtained by crushing the berries, which may also yield anessential oil byextraction.[8]
White pepper consists solely of the seed of the ripe fruit of the pepper plant, with the thin darker-coloured skin (flesh) of the fruit removed. This is usually accomplished by a process known asretting, where fully ripe red pepper berries are soaked in water for about a week so the flesh of the peppercorn softens anddecomposes; rubbing then removes what remains of the fruit, and the naked seed is dried. Sometimes the outer layer is removed from the seed through other mechanical, chemical, or biological methods.[9]
Ground white pepper is commonly used inChinese,Thai, andPortuguese cuisines. It finds occasional use in other cuisines in salads,light-coloured sauces, andmashed potatoes as a substitute for black pepper, because black pepper would visibly stand out. However, white pepper lacks certain compounds present in the outer layer of the drupe, resulting in a different overall flavour.[citation needed]
Green pepper, like black pepper, is made from unripe drupes. Dried green peppercorns are treated in a way that retains the green colour, such as withsulphur dioxide,canning, orfreeze-drying.Pickled peppercorns, also green, are unripe drupes preserved inbrine orvinegar.[citation needed]
Fresh, unpreserved green pepper drupes are used in some cuisines likeThai cuisine andTamil cuisine. Their flavour has been described as "spicy and fresh", with a "bright aroma."[10] They decay quickly if not dried or preserved, making them unsuitable for international shipping.[citation needed]
Red peppercorns usually consist of ripe peppercorn drupes preserved in brine and vinegar. Ripe red peppercorns can also be dried using the same colour-preserving techniques used to produce green pepper.[11]
Black pepper is native either toSoutheast Asia[12] orSouth Asia,[6] perhaps including theMalabar Coast ofIndia[13][14] where theMalabar pepper is extensively cultivated.[15] Wild pepper grows in theWestern Ghats region of India. Into the 19th century, the forests contained expansive wild pepper vines, as recorded by Scottish botanistFrancis Buchanan.[16][17]Deforestation resulted in wild pepper growing in more limited forest patches fromGoa toKerala, with the wild source gradually decreasing as the quality and yield of the cultivated variety improved.[16] (No successful grafting of commercial pepper on wild pepper has been achieved to date.)[16]
Pepper grows in soil that is neither too dry nor susceptible toflooding, moist, well-drained, and rich in organic matter. The vines grow best under 900 m (3,000 ft) above sea level.[citation needed]
The plants are propagated by cuttings about 40 to 50 cm (16 to 20 in) long, usuallycultivars selected both for yield and quality of fruit. These are tied up to neighbouring trees or climbing frames at distances of about2 m (6+1⁄2 ft) apart; trees with rough bark are favoured over those with smooth bark, as the pepper plants climb rough bark more readily. Competing plants are cleared away, leaving only sufficient trees to provide shade and permit free ventilation. The roots are covered in leafmulch andmanure, and the shoots are trimmed twice a year. On dry soils, the young plants require watering every other day during thedry season for the first three years. The plants bear fruit from the fourth or fifth year, and then typically for seven years.[citation needed]
Harvesting begins as soon as one or two fruits at the base of the spikes begin to turn red, and before the fruit is fully mature, and still hard; if allowed to ripen completely, the fruits lose pungency, and ultimately fall off and are lost. The spikes are collected and spread out to dry in the sun, then the peppercorns are stripped off the spikes.[5][better source needed]
Black pepper has been known toIndian cooking since at least 2000 BCE.[18][how?] J. Innes Miller notes that while pepper was grown in southernThailand and inMalaysia started in early 10th to the 11th century when the South Indian Kings began to extend their empire. The crop was brought to East Malaysia in 1840 by Chinese settlers,[19] its most important source was India, particularly theMalabar Coast, in what is now the state ofKerala.[20] The lost ancient port city ofMuziris of theChera Dynasty, famous for exporting black pepper and various other spices, is mentioned in a number of classical historical sources for its trade with theRoman Empire,Egypt,Mesopotamia,Levant, andYemen.[21][22][23][24]
The ancient history of black pepper is often interlinked with (and confused with) that oflong pepper, the dried fruit of closely relatedPiper longum. The Romans knew of both and often referred to either as justpiper. In fact, the popularity of long pepper did not entirely decline until the discovery of the New World and ofchilli peppers. Chilli peppers—some of which, when dried, are similar in shape and taste to long pepper—were easier to grow in a variety of locations more convenient to Europe. Before the 16th century, pepper was being grown inJava,Sunda,Sumatra,Madagascar,Malaysia, and everywhere in Southeast Asia. These areas traded mainly with China, or used the pepper locally.[25] Ports in the Malabar area also served as a stop-off point for much of the trade in other spices from farther east in the Indian Ocean. The Maluku Islands, historically known as the "Spice Islands", are a region in Indonesia known for producing nutmeg, mace, cloves, and pepper, and were a major source of these spices in the world. The presence of these spices in the Maluku Islands sparked European interest to buy them directly in the 16th century.[26]
Black pepper was a well-known and widespread, if expensive, seasoning in the Roman Empire.Apicius'De re coquinaria, a third-century cookbook probably based at least partly on one from the first century CE, includes pepper in a majority of its recipes. In the 18th century,Edward Gibbon wrote that pepper was "a favorite ingredient of the most expensive Roman cookery".[27]
In the third century CE, black pepper made its first definite appearance in Chinese texts, ashujiao or "foreign pepper". It does not appear to have been widely known at the time, failing to appear in a fourth-century work describing a wide variety of spices from beyond China's southern border, including long pepper.[28] By the 12th century, however, black pepper had become a popular ingredient in the cuisine of the wealthy and powerful, sometimes taking the place of China's nativeSichuan pepper (the tongue-numbing dried fruit of an unrelated plant).[citation needed]
Pepper harvested for the European trade, from a manuscript ofLivre des merveilles deMarco Polo
Marco Polo testifies to pepper's popularity in 13th-century China, when he relates what he is told of its consumption in the city of Kinsay (Hangzhou): "... Messer Marco heard it stated by one of the Great Kaan's officers of customs that the quantity of pepper introduced daily for consumption into the city of Kinsay amounted to 43 loads, each load being equal to 223 lb [101 kg]."[29] During the course of theMing treasure voyages in the early 15th century, AdmiralZheng He and his expeditionary fleets returned with such a large amount of black pepper that the once-costly luxury became a common commodity.[30]
A depiction ofCalicut, India published in 1572 during Portugal's control of the pepper trade
Pepper's exorbitant price during theMiddle Ages – and the monopoly on the trade held byVenice – helped motivate thePortuguese to seek a sea route to India. In 1498,Vasco da Gama became the first person to reach India by sailing around Africa; asked by Arabs inCalicut (who spoke Spanish and Italian) why they had come, his representative replied, "we seekChristians and spices".[31] Though this first trip to India by way of the southern tip of Africa was only a modest success, the Portuguese quickly returned in greater numbers and eventually gained much greater control of trade on the Arabian Sea, including through the1494 Treaty of Tordesillas.[citation needed]
However, the Portuguese monopolised the spice trade for 150 years. Portuguese even became the lingua franca of the then known world. The spice trade made Portugal rich. However, in the 17th century, the Portuguese lost most of their valuable Indian Ocean trade to theDutch and theEnglish, who, taking advantage of the Spanish rule over Portugal during theIberian Union (1580–1640), occupied by force almost all Portuguese interests in the area. The pepper ports of Malabar began to trade increasingly with the Dutch in the period 1661–1663.[citation needed]
As pepper supplies into Europe increased, the price of pepper declined (though the total value of the import trade generally did not). Pepper, which in the early Middle Ages had been an item exclusively for the rich, started to become more of an everyday seasoning among those of more average means. Today, pepper accounts for one-fifth of the world's spice trade.[32]
In 2023, world production of black peppercorns was 855,105tonnes, led byVietnam with 30% of the total, andBrazil,Indonesia, andIndia as secondary producers. Peppercorns are among the most widely traded spice in the world, accounting for 20% of all spice imports.[34]
Pepper gets its spicy heat mostly frompiperine derived from both the outer fruit and the seed. Black pepper contains between 4.6 and 9.7% piperine by mass, and white pepper slightly more than that.[35] Refined piperine, by weight, is about one percent as hot as thecapsaicin found inchilli peppers.[36] The outer fruit layer, left on black pepper, also containsaroma-contributingterpenes, includinggermacrene (11%),limonene (10%),pinene (10%),alpha-phellandrene (9%), andbeta-caryophyllene (7%),[37] which give citrusy, woody, and floral notes. These scents are mostly missing in white pepper, as the fermentation and other processing removes the fruit layer (which also contains some of the spicy piperine). Other flavours also commonly develop in this process, some of which are described as off-flavours when in excess: Primarily3-methylindole (pig manure-like),4-methylphenol (horse manure),3-methylphenol (phenolic), andbutyric acid (cheese).[38] The aroma of pepper is attributed torotundone (3,4,5,6,7,8-Hexahydro-3α,8α-dimethyl-5α-(1-methylethenyl)azulene-1(2H)-one), asesquiterpene originally discovered in the tubers ofCyperus rotundus, which can be detected in concentrations of 0.4 nanograms/l in water and in wine: rotundone is also present in marjoram, oregano, rosemary, basil, thyme, and geranium, as well as in someShiraz wines.[39]
Handheld pepper mills with black (left) and mixed (right) peppercorns
Pepper loses flavour and aroma through evaporation, so airtight storage helps preserve its spiciness longer. Pepper can also lose flavour when exposed to light, which cantransform piperine into nearly tastelessisochavicine.[40] Once ground, pepper's aromatics can evaporate quickly; most culinary sources recommend grinding whole peppercorns immediately before use for this reason. Handheldpepper mills or grinders, which mechanically grind or crush whole peppercorns, are used for this as an alternative to pepper shakers that dispense ground pepper. Spice mills, such as pepper mills, were found in European kitchens as early as the 14th century, but themortar and pestle used earlier for crushing pepper have remained a popular method for centuries, as well.[41]
Enhancing the flavour profile of peppercorns (including piperine and essential oils), prior to processing, has been attempted through the postharvest application of ultraviolet-C light (UV-C).[42]
"There's certainly too much pepper in that soup!". Alice said to herself, as well as she could forsneezing —Alice in Wonderland (1865). Note the cook's pepper mill.
Like many Eastern spices, pepper was historically both a seasoning and atraditional medicine. Pepper appears in the BuddhistSamaññaphala Sutta, chapter five, as one of the few medicines a monk is allowed to carry.[44] Long pepper, being stronger, was often the preferred medication, but both were used. Black pepper (or perhaps long pepper) was believed to cure several illnesses, such asconstipation,insomnia, oralabscesses,sunburn, andtoothaches, among others.[45]
Pepper is known to causesneezing. Some sources say that piperine, a substance present in black pepper, irritates the nostrils, causing the sneezing.[48] Few, if any, controlled studies have been carried out to answer the question.[citation needed]
Black peppercorns were found stuffed in the nostrils ofRamesses II, placed there as part of themummification rituals shortly after his death in 1213 BCE.[49] Little else is known about the use of pepper inancient Egypt and how it reached theNile from theMalabar Coast of India.[citation needed]
Pepper (both long and black) was known in Greece at least as early as the fourth century BCE, though it was probably an uncommon and expensive item that only the very rich could afford.[citation needed] Peppercorns were a much-prized trade good, often referred to as "black gold" and used as a form ofcommodity money.[when?] The legacy of this trade remains in some Western legal systems that recognise the term "peppercorn rent" as a token payment for something that is, essentially, a gift.[50]
A Roman-era trade route from India to Italy
By the time of the earlyRoman Empire, especially after Rome's conquest of Egypt in 30 BCE, open-ocean crossing of the Arabian Sea direct to Chera dynastysouthern India's Malabar Coast was near routine. Details of this trading across theIndian Ocean have been passed down in thePeriplus of the Erythraean Sea. According to the Greek geographerStrabo, the early empire sent a fleet of around 120 ships on an annual trip to India and back.[51] The fleet timed its travel across theArabian Sea to take advantage of the predictablemonsoon winds. Returning from India, the ships travelled up theRed Sea, from where the cargo was carried overland or via theNile-Red Sea canal to the Nile River, barged toAlexandria, and shipped from there to Italy and Rome. The rough geographical outlines of this same trade route would dominate the pepper trade into Europe for a millennium and a half to come.[citation needed]
As ships could sail directly to Malabar's coast,Malabar black pepper trade route became shorter than long pepper, reflected in its prices.Pliny the Elder'sNatural History states of the prices in Rome around 77 CE: "Long pepper ... is 15denarii per pound, while that of white pepper is seven, and of black, four." Pliny also complains, "There is no year in which India does not drain the Roman Empire of 50 millionsesterces", and further moralises on pepper:
It is quite surprising that the use of pepper has come so much into fashion, seeing that in other substances which we use, it is sometimes their sweetness, and sometimes their appearance that has attracted our notice; whereas, pepper has nothing in it that can plead as a recommendation to either fruit or berry, its only desirable quality being a certain pungency; and yet it is for this that we import it all the way from India! Who was the first to make trial of it as an article of food? and who, I wonder, was the man that was not content to prepare himself by hunger only for the satisfying of a greedy appetite?
He does not state whether the 50 million was the actual amount of money which found its way to India or the total retail cost of the items in Rome; elsewhere, he cites a figure of 100 million sesterces.[51]
Pepper was so valuable that it was often used ascollateral or even currency. The taste for pepper (or the appreciation of its monetary value) was passed on to those who would see Rome fall.Alaric, king of theVisigoths, included 3,000 pounds of pepper as part of the ransom he demanded from Rome when he besieged the city in the fifth century.[53] After the fall of Rome, others took over the middle legs of thespice trade, first thePersians and then theArabs; Innes Miller cites the account ofCosmas Indicopleustes, who travelled east to India, as proof that "pepper was still being exported from India in the sixth century".[54] By the end of theEarly Middle Ages, the central portions of the spice trade were firmly underIslamic control. Once into the Mediterranean, the trade was largely monopolised by Italian powers, especiallyVenice andGenoa. The rise of thesecity-states was funded in large part by the spice trade.[citation needed]
I am black on the outside, clad in a wrinkled cover, Yet within I bear a burning marrow. I season delicacies, the banquets of kings, and the luxuries of the table, Both the sauces and the tenderized meats of the kitchen. But you will find in me no quality of any worth, Unless your bowels have been rattled by my gleaming marrow.[55]
It is commonly believed that during theMiddle Ages, pepper was often used to conceal the taste of partially rotten meat. No evidence supports this claim, and historians view it as highly unlikely; in the Middle Ages, pepper was aluxury item, affordable only to the wealthy, who certainly had unspoiled meat available, as well.[56] In addition, people of the time certainly knew that eating spoiled food would make them sick. Similarly, the belief that pepper was widely used as a preservative is questionable; it is true thatpiperine, the compound that gives pepper its spiciness, has some antimicrobial properties, but at the concentrations present when pepper is used as a spice, the effect is small.[57] Salt is a much more effective preservative, andsalt-cured meats were common fare, especially in winter. However, pepper and other spices played a role in improving the taste of long-preserved meats.[citation needed]
Archaeological evidence of pepper consumption in late medieval Northern Europe comes from excavations on the Danish-Norwegian flagship,Gribshunden, which sank in the summer of 1495. In 2021, archaeologists recovered more than 2,000 peppercorns from the wreck, along with a variety of other spices and exotic foodstuffs including clove, ginger, saffron, and almond. The ship was carrying King Hans to a political summit at the time of its loss. The spices were likely intended for feasts at the summit, which would have included the Danish, Norwegian, and Swedish Councils of State.[58][59]
It is possible that black pepper was known inChina in the second century BCE, if poetic reports regarding an explorer named Tang Meng (唐蒙) are correct. Sent byEmperor Wu to what is now south-west China, Tang Meng is said to have come across something calledjujiang or "sauce-betel". He was told it came from the markets ofShu, an area in what is now theSichuan province. The traditional view among historians is that "sauce-betel" is a sauce made frombetel leaves, but arguments have been made that it actually refers to pepper, either long or black.[60]
^abJaramillo, M. Alejandra; Manos (2001). "Phylogeny and Patterns of Floral Diversity in the Genus Piper (Piperaceae)".American Journal of Botany.88 (4):706–16.doi:10.2307/2657072.JSTOR2657072.PMID11302858.
^Prof. George Menachery; Fr. Werner Chakkalakkal, CMI (10 January 2001)."Cranganore: Past and Present".Kodungallur – The Cradle of Christianity in India. Archived fromthe original on 23 December 2013. Retrieved11 May 2016.
^Finlay, Robert (2008). "The Voyages of Zheng He: Ideology, State Power, and Maritime Trade in Ming China".Journal of the Historical Society.8 (3): 337.doi:10.1111/j.1540-5923.2008.00250.x.
^Steinhaus, Martin; Schieberle, Peter (28 June 2005). "Role of the Fermentation Process in Off-odorant Formation in White Pepper: On-site Trial in Thailand".Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry.53 (15):6056–6060.Bibcode:2005JAFC...53.6056S.doi:10.1021/jf050604s.PMID16028995.
^Siebert, Tracey E.; Wood, Claudia; Elsey, Gordon M.; Alan (2008). "Determination of Rotundone, the Pepper Aroma Impact Compound, in Grapes and Wine".J. Agric. Food Chem.56 (10):3745–3748.Bibcode:2008JAFC...56.3745S.doi:10.1021/jf800184t.PMID18461962.
^Translation from Turner, p 94. The riddle's answer is of coursepepper.
^Dalby, p. 156; also Turner, pp. 108–109, though Turner does go on to discuss spices (not pepper specifically) being used to disguise the taste of partially spoiled wine or ale.
^H. J. D. Dorman; S. G. Deans (2000). "Antimicrobial agents from plants: antibacterial activity of plant volatile oils".Journal of Applied Microbiology.88 (2):308–16.doi:10.1046/j.1365-2672.2000.00969.x.PMID10736000.S2CID21788355.Spices, which are used as integral ingredients in cuisine or added as flavouring agents to foods, are present in insufficient quantities for their antimicrobial properties to be significant.
^Dalby, pp. 74–75. The argument thatjujiang was long pepper goes back to the fourth century CE botanical writings of Ji Han; Hui-lin Li's 1979 translation of and commentary on Ji Han's work makes the case that it wasPiper nigrum.
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