BLACK PEPPER 133 



flowers (fig. 73 G), which are succeeded by small drupaceous fruits ; 

 these do not become raised upon stalks as the cubebs do, but remain 

 sessile. As soon as the lower berries on the spike begin to ripen, 

 which is shown by their colour changing from green to red, the whole 

 spike is picked and dried in the sun, during which the fruits turn 

 black. Separated from the rachis and sorted they constitute the 

 black pepper of commerce. 



For the production of white pepper the fruits are allowed to become 

 nearly ripe ; they assume a crimson colour, and the mesocarp acquires 

 a pulpy consistence. They are then either heaped and allowed to 

 ferment, or soaked in water, until the outer part of the pericarp is 

 loosened ; from this they are separated by rubbing between the 

 hands or treading under the feet, after which they are washed free 

 from the pulp and dried. White 



pepper is therefore the nearly ripe ^^^ ^nafti on 



fruit from which the outer part of 

 the pericarp has been removed. A 

 similar separation is easily effected 

 from the black pepper of commerce 

 after soaking in water. 



Description. Black pepper con- 

 sists of small dark brown or nearly FIG. 75. Black Pepper. A, transverse 

 black spherical fruits, measuring section. B, longitudinal section, 



about 5 mm. in diameter, with a showil \ g pericarp ' sch > P eris P erm > 



p: endosperm, en; and embryo, 



more or less regularly and deeply e Magnified. (Tschirch.) 

 reticulate, wrinkled surface. At 



the apex the remains of the sessile stigmas can be traced ; the base 

 bears a scar indicating the point of attachment to the rachis, but, 

 the fruits being sessile, there is no stalk. 



If a fruit be cut in halves and examined with a lens, the pericarp 

 will be seen to be thin and dark and completely filled with a seed to 

 which it is closely adherent. The seed is globular and covered with 

 a brown seed-coat. It contains a small endosperm, near the apex of 

 the fruit, in which the minute embryo is situated ; but the major 

 part of the seed is composed of perisperm, which is yellowish and 

 horny near the periphery, whitish, mealy, and frequently hollow 

 in the centre. 



Both pericarp and seed have an aromatic odour and pungent taste ; 

 they both contain oil-cells, visible under the microscope. 



The student should observe 



(a) The absence of stalk, 



(b) The seed completely filling the pericarp and adherent to it. 



(c) The characteristic odour and taste, 



(d) In white pepper the adherent inner part of the pericarp, with 



its fibro-vascular bundles. 



