Malabar whole black peppercorns are considered the best black Peppercorns, they are left on the vine longer so they develop a deep, rich flavor. The berries are picked from the vine just before they fully ripen and turn red. As they are dried, they turn black. Tellicherry pepper has a full, robust flavor. Pepper gets its spicy heat mostly from the piperine compound, which is found both in the outer fruit and in the seed. Black pepper contains between 4.6% and 9.7% piperine by mass, and white pepper slightly more than that. Refined piperine, by weight, is about one percent as hot as the capsaicin in chili peppers. The outer fruit layer, left on black pepper, also contains important odor-contributing terpenes including pinene, sabinene, limonene, caryophyllene, and linalool, which give citrusy, woody, and floral notes. These scents are mostly missing in white pepper, which is stripped of the fruit layer. Pepper loses flavor and aroma through evaporation, so airtight storage helps preserve pepper’s original spiciness longer. Pepper can also lose flavor when exposed to light, which can transform piperine into nearly tasteless isochavicine. Once ground, pepper’s aromatics can evaporate quickly; most culinary sources recommend grinding whole peppercorns immediately before use for this reason.
