Black Pepper: Hainan, Vietnam and Indonesia, and What g/L Means

Bulk density is the weight of a litre of pepper. Full berries are heavy; light, hollow berries pull the figure down. Vietnam trades its pepper by density: the 550 g/L grade is sold at moisture of 13% or less, impurities of 0.5% or less, piperine of at least 5.5% and volatile oil of at least 1.8%; the 500 g/L grade at 13.5%, 1%, 5% and 1.5%.

China's standard for black pepper (GB/T 7901-2018) sets grade 1 at impurities of 1% or less, moisture of 13% or less, piperine of at least 5.0% and volatile oil of at least 1.5%. Our whole black pepper reference is at least 550 g/L.

Vietnam harvests from March to June, mainly in April and May, with a smaller September–October crop of about a fifth of the year. Indonesia can pick all year, with a peak from July to September (Lampung in July and August, Bangka from August to October). Hainan's main crop runs from mid-September to late November; Wanning comes first, and Qionghai and Haikou about 15 days later. A small April–May Hainan crop sells 10–15% below the autumn crop.

For black pepper, clusters are picked when one or two berries turn from yellow to red. For white pepper, berries are left to ripen fully and the skin is removed.

In China, picked clusters are sun-dried for 3–4 days, threshed once the skins wrinkle, then dried for another 4–6 days to 13% moisture or less. For a more even dark colour, export processors blanch the berries in boiling water for 30–60 seconds before 5–7 days of sun drying. Machine drying at about 55 °C for 24 hours works in any weather, but too much heat costs aroma. Washing, sorting and re-drying for high grades loses about 10% of the weight and adds about 10–15% to the price. About 3–3.5 kg of fresh berries make one kilo of black pepper.