Black Pepper is one of the most internationally traded spice belonging to the family of Piperaceae. The plant is cultivated for its fruit and is popularly used as a spice and seasoning after drying.


The Plant
The pepper plant is grown in a soil that is moist and well drained and is rich in organic matter. The normal height of the plant is around four meters. The leaves of the plant is five to ten centimeters long and three to six centimeters broad.

The plants usually bear plants every fourth or fifth year and continues to do so for seven years. Every stem consist of 20 to 30 fruiting spikes.

Origin
Since many centuries black pepper has been cultivated in Malabar region of Kerala in south India. The pepper that has been cultivated is black and white pepper whereas green and red pepper is a recent invention.
Pepper is also grown in South East Asia for more than two thousand years. Malaysia and Indonesia are the major and the earliest producers of pepper in South East Asia. In 20th century the cultivation of Black Pepper reached to Thailand, Vietnam, China and Sri Lanka. Outside Asia Brazil is the major producer of Black Pepper. However taking world as a whole India followed by Indonesia are the major producers.

Production Centers
India

• Malabar
• Tellicherry (Thalassery)
• Sarawak in insular Malaysia
• Lampong from Sumatra/Indonesia.
• Bangka, south east of Sumatra.

Brazil

• Pará, ( Amazon river basin)

Composition
The essential oil content of black pepper is 3%. The major constituent of essential oil is Sesquiterpenes . Other constituents that define the aroma and odor are monoterpenes hydrocarbons that includes sabinene, terpinene, a-pinene, myrcene, ß-pinene, limonene, ?3-carene derivatives of monoterpene like borneol, carvone, carvacrol, 1,8-cineol, linalool.
Odorants that are chiefly found in b;ack pepper are linalool, a-phellandrene, limonene, myrcene and a-pinene.In white pepper the esential oil is nearly 1%.

Black Pepper Cultivation
Black pepper after being moderately riped are dried at moderate temperature. Just after the berry starts to show the traces of redness the fruit is plucked and stored in room temperature and thereafter soaked into boiled water to give surface disinfection. This results in the fermentation which finally leads to the changing of green pepper fruits into black. Later the pepper is dried in direct sunlight.
For good flavor and aroma pepper should be plucked when the fruits show the first sign of yellow orange. This type of pepper is mainly produced in India, whose corns are larger than typical black pepper corns.

Other Pepper Variants
White Pepper
When pepper fruits are completely ripened, they are used for making white pepper. For processing white pepper, firstly the outer hull or mesocarp is removed. After this, in a slow moving water berries are soaked which results in the disintegration of the mesocarp which is later removed mechanically from the kernel (endocarp). The seed grain so remained is sold as white pepper. In white pepper the pungency of the black pepper is retained whereas flavor is altered due to loss of aroma compounds

Green Pepper
To process green pepper it is harvested very early. The freshly harvested pepper corns are are pickled in salt or vinegar, or they are dried at elevated temperature. Since they are still unriped they exhibit small pungency and a fresh, herbal, "green" flavor. The aroma of dried green peppercorns are fantastic but they have less pungency. This make the m suitable for delicate dishes.

Red Pepper
Red pepper is is rare. It has good pungency and smell and can be compared to black pepper. The sugary taste makes them unique in the pepper world. For producing them, the ripe peppercorns are harvested at the right time. The drying process is fast and suppress fermentation to preserve the color. While processing extra care is taken in order to prevent the separation of the outer hull from the kernel

Trade in Black Pepper
Indian Scenario
India is one of the major countries exporting large volumes of international grade pepper to a number of countries. According to an estimate, the Southern state of Kerala accounts for 90% of the total pepper production. Tamilnadu and Karnataka are other major Indian production centres. The exports of this spice has been rising in terms of volume for the past few years.

Global Scenario
The global production and trade of pepper is on the rise. Vietnam is the largest manufacturer and trader of pepper in the global market. Indonesia, India, Brazil, Malaysia, Srilanka, Thailand and China are among the top producers of pepper in the world. Singapore, Rotterdam and New York are the largest trading centres of pepper

Uses of Black Pepper
Flavoring
The spice derives its flavor from piperine compund. It is widely used for food flavoring and preservation.

Medicine
Black Pepper is widely used in traditional medicinal systems including ayurveda, Siddha and Unani systems. It is used for manufacturing medicinces curing illnesses and diseases like heart disease, indigestion, constipation, insomnia, joint pains, liver problems, sneezing etc.