BLACK PEPPER,United States price supplier

Peppercorns, whether black, white or green, are the dried fruits of the pepper plant (Piper nigrum) of the Piperaceae family. The evergreen pepper plant is a woody climber, which grows up to 4 m high on stakes. Its fruits are in spikes (up to 15 cm long) of 20 - 30 stone fruits, which change color from green to yellow to red during ripening. The initially green and later red berries contain a seed surrounded by a thin fruit wall. The pepper plant is indigenous to Malabar and is cultivated in all tropical countries.

The term spice is used to refer to plant parts which serve to improve the odor and flavor of foods. They contain essential oils and other ingredients which have a strong seasoning action.

Spices are processed, cleaned, graded and carefully packaged for overseas dispatch in the countries where they are cultivated. They are dried to preserve them for transport and storage. In consumer countries, they are delivered to spice mills, where they are cleaned and graded again, ready for sale in unground or ground form.