White Pepper

White pepper grains White pepper consists of the seed of the pepper plant alone, with the darker coloured skin of the pepper fruit removed. This is usually accomplished by a process known as retting, where fully ripe peppers are soaked in water for about a week, during which the flesh of the pepper softens and decomposes. Rubbing then removes what remains of the fruit, and the naked seed is dried. Alternative processes are used for removing the outer pepper from the seed, including decortications, the removal of the outer layer through mechanical, chemical or biological methods.

White pepper is sometimes used in dishes like light-co loured sauces or mashed potatoes, where ground black pepper would visibly stand out. They have differing flavour due to the presence of certain compounds in the outer fruit layer of the drupe that are not found in the seed.