Black Pepper
Piper nigrum
Pepper family (Piperaceae)
Hot in 4 colours
Pepper is native to India where it has been used as a spice since time immemorial. It is a woody climber and when supported by trees or fences can grow to 4 meters in height. The different end products of the berry are green, white, black or red pepper.
Green pepper is the unripe, green peppercorn. For white pepper, the ripe berry is used but first the red skin is removed with salty water after which the berry is dried; this type of pepper is sharper but has a less pungent flavour. To make black pepper the unripe berry is dried and the skin of the berry shrivels; this is the most aromatic type of pepper. To make red pepper ripe berries are laid out in the dark and thereby are able to retain the reddish-brown colour.
Themes
De verschillende eindproducten van de bes zijn groene, witte, zwarte en rode peper. Groene peper is de onrijpe, groene bes. Voor witte peper wordt de rijpe bes gebruikt waarvan eerst de rode schil met zout water is verwijderd, waarna de bes gedroogd wordt. Deze pepersoort is scherp van smaak. Om zwarte peper te maken wordt de onrijpe bes gedroogd, waardoor de huid van de bes verschrompelt. Dit is de meest aromatische pepersoort. Om rode peper te maken wordt de rijpe bes in een donker vertrek te drogen gelegd en behoudt daarmee zijn bruinrode kleur.
Traditioneel worden peperbessen gebruikt voor de behandeling van infecties aan de urinewegen.
Details
| Description: | Woody climber, to 10 m or more. |
|---|---|
| Distributions: | Maleisische archipel, india. |
| Habitat: | Montane tropical evergreen forest. |
| Year cycle: | Perennial (trees and shrubs included) |
| Hardiness: | 41 - 50 f (heated glasshouse - warm termperate) |
| Flowering period: | Juni - oktober |
| Flower color: | White |
| Notes on flowers: | 50–150 whitish to yellow-green flowers are produced on a spike. |
| Fruit color: | Red, green, black |
| Notes on fruits: | Green at first but turning red as they ripen, drying black when unripe. |