Black pepper: Difference between revisions
Created page with "{{Short description|Ground fruit of the family Piperaceae}} {{Speciesbox | image = Piper_nigrum_-_Köhler–s_Medizinal-Pflanzen-107.jpg | image_caption = Pepper plant with immature peppercorns | genus = Piper | species = nigrum | authority = L. }} '''Black pepper''' ('''''Piper nigrum''''') is a flowering vine in the family Piperaceae, cultivated for its fruit (the '''peppercorn'''), which is usually dried and used as a..." |
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===Black pepper=== | ===Black pepper=== | ||
Black pepper is produced from the still-green, unripe [[drupe]] of the pepper plant. | Black pepper is produced from the still-green, unripe [[drupe]] of the pepper plant. The drupes are cooked briefly in hot water, both to clean them and to prepare them for drying. The heat ruptures [[cell wall]]s in the pepper, accelerating [[enzymes]] that cause [[browning (chemical process)|browning]] during drying. | ||
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 containing [[melanoidin]]. | 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 containing [[melanoidin]]. 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 an [[essential oil]] by [[extract|extraction]]. | ||
===White pepper=== | ===White pepper=== | ||