Peppercorns are a flowering vine in the family Piperaceae and cultivated for its fruit, which is dried and used as a spice and seasoning. The fruit produces white, black red/pink and green pepper.

Black pepper is native to South India and is produced from the green unripe berries of the pepper plant. The berries are cooked briefly in hot water, both to clean them and to prepare them for drying. The heat ruptures cell walls in the fruit, speeding the work of browning enzymes during drying. The berries are dried in the sun or by machine for several days, during which the fruit around the seed shrinks and darkens into a thin, wrinkled black layer.