Pepper

U. S. Standard'Black Pepper is black pepper free from added pepper shells, pepper dust and other pepper by-products, and containing not less than 6% of non-volatile ether extract ; not less than 25% of starch by the diastase method ; not less than 28% of starch by direct inversion ; not more than 7% of total ash ; not more than 2% of ash insoluble in hydrochloric acid, and not more than 15% of crude fibre. One hundred parts of the non-volatile ether extract contain not less than 3.25 parts of nitrogen.

White Pepper:

is practically the same product as Black Pepper except that the outer shell or pericarp of the berry is removed to a greater or less extent by friction, follow ing soaking in water. It is sometimes made at the plantations, hut just as frequently by manufacturers who buy the peppercorns in open market. Some manufacturers pre fer, for White Pepper, berries that have been allowed to ripen before picking as they are more easily decorticated, but this is not an universal rule.

Decorticated White Pepper is the term applied to the product which, in addition to losing the outer dark shell, has also had the seed-coats partly or entirely removed.

There are numerous qualities according to the length to which the process has been carried. The most expensive is that from which all three seed-coats have been removed, producing smooth, hard, pearly kernels. Other grades retain one or two seed-coats.

There are several varieties of White Pepper on the market, corresponding in a general way with Black Pepper, such as Singapore, Penang, Tellicherry, Siam, etc.

Coriander White Pepper is a product of especially attractive appearance— screened to uniform size and then bleached.

Pepper Shells is the by-product of external shell or cuticle obtained in the manu facture of White Pepper.

U. S. Standard White Pepper is white pepper containing not less than 6% of non volatile ether extract ; not less than 50% of starch by the diastase method; not less than 40% of starch by direct inversion ; not more than 4% of total ash ; not more than .5% of ash insoluble in hydrochloric acid, and not more than 5% of crude fibre. One hundred parts of the non-volatile ether extract contain not less than 4 parts of nitrogen.

Ground Pepper:

whether black or white, should consist only of whole or hulled pep percorns reduced to proper fineness by grinding and sieving.

Long Pepper:

is chiefly derived from wild plants of the genus Chavica Miq. The fruit spikes, gathered when green, are cylindrical in form and covered with closely packed, small round berries. The product is crudely prepared, the berries hardened together and adhering to the woody stem, and generally including a large quantity of dirt and other extraneous matter. It does not possess the fine flavor or strength of true pepper and its addition is rated as adulteration. Its principal use is for pickles.

Red Pepper, Cayenne Pepper, Paprika.

Red Pepper is the powdered ripe pod, both flesh and seeds, of any variety of capsicum, the plant which gives us the edible fresh "pepper" but which bears no relation to the true pepper-plant. The most noted vari eties are the capsicum baccatum, capsicum frutescens and capsicum fastigiatum, all distinguished by very small narrow pods—varying from one-half to one and one-half inch in length—cultivated in the East and West Indies, Mexico and the Southern States.

Cayenne Pepper is, by the ruling of the Board of Food and Drug Inspection, 1906, distinguished from Red Pepper in general as being obtained only from small-fruited varieties of capsicum—the three types named above or similar varieties. It should be of dull red color. The best known commercial varieties are Zanzibar, Mombassa, Sierra Leone and Japan, the last-named being less pungent than the others.

"Nepaul Pepper," from a capsicum grown in Nepaul, India, is a choice variety of Cayenne Pepper, yellowish-red and very pungent but of especially agreeable flavor.

U. S. Standard Cayenne Pepper is cayenne pepper containing not less, than 15% of non-volatile ether extract ; not more than 6.5% of total ash ; not more than .5% of ash insoluble in hydrochloric acid; not more than 1.5% of starch by the diastase method, and not more than 28% of crude fibre.

Cayenne is a powerful stimulant, producing a sense of heat in the stomach and a general glow throughout the body without narcotic effect. In small amounts it is an aid to digestion, particularly of vegetables, which partly accounts for its general use in warm weather.