Water, 8.0 to 11.0 Ash, 2.75 to 5.0 Volatile Oil, .50 to 1.75 Pepperine and Resin, 7.0 to 8.0 Starch, 32.0 to 38.0 Crude Fiber, 8.0 to 11.0 Albuminoids, 7.0 to 12.0 ------------------------------------------------------------------------ CHAPTER V WHITE PEPPER WHITE pepper is thought by many to be produced by a separate plant, but it is the fruit of the black pepper vine, the change in appearance being brought about by artificial preparation. The poor natives are said to collect for market some white berries, which have been left on the vines until fully ripe and then have fallen to the ground and, by their exposure to the sun, have lost the outer black coating. That which remains is called the “genuine” white pepper. This collection of the white pepper corns by the natives has given rise to the story that a small bird called ballaree, feeding on the black pepper, digests nothing but the outer husks and, the balance, having passed whole through the organs of the bird, becomes white. The pepper vines are injured by allowing the berry to ripen before gathering to make white pepper. For this reason the unripe fruit is often used, and some manufacturers make it a business to prepare or make the white pepper. The unripe black pepper is robbed of its outer coat, to make white pepper, in several ways, according to the extent to which the decorticating process is carried. Thus, we may have decorticated pepper from which all three coats are removed, or only one or two of them. All of these kinds are called factitious white pepper. Thus we have Tellicherry, which is particularly fine, and, second, the “coriander white,” so called from its close resemblance to the seed of that name. This is also a fine grade. It is made in imitation of the coriander seed by cutting off from the end of each corn a piece of the outer hull, so that the dark-colored inner portion shows. The ordinary white follows next, which is made from the Singapore, Penang, etc. This is often bleached to imitate the first two, but it makes a sad imitation. The Tellicherry and coriander are packed in cases of about 200 pounds, each with marked tare on every case. The ordinary white is packed in bags of about 150 pounds, with 2 per cent. tare, with an allowance of one pound to each package.