Black pepper trade begins with botanical identity, colour form, style and grade—not a generic pepper label. Black, white and green pepper from Piper nigrum are separate products created from berries at different maturity and processing stages; whole, cracked or crushed and ground styles also carry different analytical and contamination risks. A usable offer identifies black-pepper form, whole or processed style, cultivar where specified, class or grade, berry size, bulk density, light berries, pinheads, mould, insect damage, extraneous vegetable and foreign matter, moisture, ash, volatile oil and piperine basis, microbial and pesticide-residue evidence, origin, crop and processing dates, lot, package and net weight, quantity, currency, Incoterm, destination, delivery window and information vintage.
The figures below are Grade I requirements for whole black pepper from the FAO/WHO Codex Standard for Black, White and Green Peppers CXS 326-2017, amended 2022. The FAOSTAT crop dataset separately records dated national production, area and yield observations through 2024. These standards and historical aggregates are not current lot availability, a physical offer or a live delivered black-pepper price.
Codex CXS 326-2017 defines black pepper as dried Piper nigrum berries with the pericarp intact, white pepper as dried berries after pericarp removal and green pepper as green berries whose moisture is removed under controlled conditions. Their colour, flavour, density, defect and chemistry requirements differ. Atlas retains the colour form, maturity and processing history before comparing production, quality, price or trade records.
Codex recognizes whole, cracked or crushed and ground styles. Whole berries can be assessed for size, bulk density, light berries, pinheads, broken or mouldy berries, insect damage and visible matter. Grinding changes sampling and exposes different adulteration, fibre, ash and volatile-oil concerns; the standard therefore supplies separate chemistry requirements for ground black and white pepper. Atlas keeps the style and test basis attached rather than transferring a whole-berry grade to powder.
For Grade I whole black pepper, Codex sets a minimum bulk density of 550 grams per litre, maximum light berries of 2 percent, maximum foreign matter of 0.1 percent and maximum moisture of 12 percent. On a dry basis it sets minimum volatile oil of 2 millilitres per 100 grams and minimum piperine of 3.5 percent. Comparable records also retain extraneous vegetable matter, mould, insects, excreta, ash and acid-insoluble ash, the sample and laboratory methods, pesticide residues, microbiology, treatment, packaging and chain of custody.
A Codex grade describes quality limits, not current supply or price. FAOSTAT production, harvested-area and yield observations aggregate countries, cultivars, grades, styles and channels and retain official, estimated or imputed source flags. A delivered black-pepper price still requires a defined lot, current permitted physical evidence, origin, crop, grade, style, quantity, currency, Incoterm, destination, delivery window, freight and information vintage. Atlas keeps the price unsupported when those fields are missing.
No. Codex defines them by different berry condition and processing. Their appearance, sensory properties, physical tolerances and chemical requirements remain on the named colour form.
CXS 326-2017 sets 550 grams per litre as the minimum for Grade I whole black pepper. The grade, style and measurement method must remain attached to the value.
No. Ground pepper has separate chemical requirements and cannot be evaluated using whole-berry size, density and defect factors alone. Processing and analytical evidence must be explicit.
Piper nigrum colour form, whole or processed style, cultivar where specified, grade, size and density, defects and foreign matter, moisture, ash, volatile oil and piperine basis, microbiology and residues, origin, crop and processing dates, lot, package, quantity, currency, Incoterm, destination, delivery window and evidence date.
Figures retain their source, period and review date. Corroboration is not promoted to primary evidence.