They begin bearing in 2 to 5 years and may produce for as long as 40 years. The berries are picked when they begin to turn red. The collected berries are immersed in boiling water for about 10 minutes, which causes them to turn dark brown or black in an hour. Then they are spread out to dry in the sun for three or four days. The whole peppercorns, when ground, yield black pepper.
White pepper is obtained by removing the outer part of the pericarp.
The outer coating is softened either by keeping the berries in moist heaps for 2 or 3 days or by keeping them in sacks submerged in running water for 7 to 15 days, depending on the region. The softened outer coating is then removed by washing and rubbing or by trampling, and the berries are spread in the sun to dry. Whole white pepper can also be prepared by grinding off the outer coating mechanically. The flavour is less pungent than that of black pepper. Pepper contains up to 3 percent essential oil that has the aromatic flavour of pepper but not the pungency.