Pepper contains piperine, which irritates the nose and causes sneezing, but also gives pepper its flavor. Pepper was a valuable spice in ancient times and was known as “black gold.” Black, white, and green pepper all come from the same plant, but are processed differently. Pepper is the most traded spice in the world, with Vietnam, Indonesia, and India being the top producers.
Anyone who enjoys preparing a good meal has no doubt had the experience of enthusiastically shaking or grinding the pepper mill over a pot only to find themselves in a sneeze moments later. Pepper contains a pyridine alkaloid called piperine. Piperine irritates the nerve endings inside the nose, triggering a sneeze. Sneezing is a natural reaction to the irritant, meant to clear it from the nasal passages. At the same time, the mucous membranes are activated to help wash away the offending agent.
Despite piperine’s irritating characteristics, it gives pepper its flavor. It has been a popular and significant spice since prehistoric times. It originates from the region known today as Kerala, India, where pepper plants grow wild. It was India’s biggest export until 4,000 years ago, and ruled the spice trade. For millennia this spice was too expensive for anyone but the wealthy, and was known as “black gold.” In 1213 BC the Egyptian pharaoh, Ramesses II, was mummified with a peppercorn in each nostril. The story goes that Attila the Hun requested a ton of pepper from Rome when he fell. In the Middle Ages it was used to pay debts, dowries and rents, giving rise to the enduring phrase “pepper rent”.
White, green and black pepper all come from the same flowering vine. Only the processing techniques differ. For the black type, the unripe green berries are picked, soaked, and dried. This process turns the skin of the berry a blackish brown color, resulting in peppercorns. The peppercorns are then ground for use.
A different process is used for the green types, which maintains the color of the unripe berries by freeze-drying or using sulfur dioxide washes. It could also be pickled in vinegar or saline solutions. Pink and red peppers are preserved with vinegar and salt.
Each berry on a pepper plant contains a single white seed. When the ripe berries are soaked for an extended period of time, the tough husks soften and fall off revealing the white peppercorns.
This spice is reportedly the most traded spice in the world. Vietnam is the top exporter with Indonesia and India right behind it. These three countries alone were responsible for producing over 217,000 tonnes (245 kilograms) of pepper in 2003, with other countries producing their high quotas, resulting in a production of over a quarter of a million tonnes each year.
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