Name for the black pepper plant and the spice obtained from it. The peppercorns have different colours depending on the time of harvest and further treatment. Red pepperconsists of fully ripe, unpeeled fruits. White pepperis fully ripe pepper with the skin removed (the hottest). Green pepper is made from unripe, early-harvested fruit that is dried at high temperatures or soaked in salt water, which is why it retains its colour.
Black pepper is also made from unripe fruit, but is dried naturally. Pepper is often confused with paprika because the latter is also known as chilli or pepperoni. Adding to the confusion is the fact that the English "pepper" means both "capsicum" (the vegetable) and "pepper". The plural "peppers", on the other hand, always means "paprika" and never "pepper". The German "Paprika", borrowed from Hungarian, is derived from "Papar" (pepper).
Chilli is the Mexican name for cayenne pepper, but it is not a pepper but a type of paprika. Paprika contains the substance capsaicin, pepper the substance piperine. Both cause the sensation of heat (not a pure taste sensation, but a trigeminal pain sensation). Certain flavouring substances are typical of both spices, iMethoxypyrazine for paprika and linalool for pepper. Both paprika and pepper flavours are particularly common in red wines. Due to these confusing facts, the terms paprika (chilli, chilli pepper) and pepper should therefore be used with caution when referring to wine, as the term peppery is often used for both.
Picture left: By Aruna in Wikipedia in Malayalam, CC BY-SA 3.0, Link
Image on the right: By Rainer Zenz from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 3.0, Link
