Fully ripened pepper berries, yellow to red in colour, are harvested to be processed into white pepper. Berries are separated from the stalk, filled into jute bags and soaked in fresh running water to remove the pericarp. This process of retting takes about two weeks. Thereafter the berries are washed several times in rattan baskets to remove the stalks and the pericarp before sun-drying for two to three days.

Sarawak White Pepper Spesifications

	Grade
Characteristics	Standard Malaysia White No.1 (Cream Label)	Sarawak Special White (Green Label)	Sarawak FAQ White (Blue Label )	Sarawak Field White (Orange Label )	Sarawak Coarse Field Black (Grey Label)
1.Moisture, per cent by weight, maximum	% 12.0	% 15.0	% 16.0	% 16.0	% 16.0
2. Light berries, per cent by weight, maximum	0.2	0.5	1.0	1.5	-
3. Extraneous matter, per cent by weight, maximum	0.25	0.25	0.5	1.0	3.0
4. Amount of black/dark grey berries in white pepper, per cent by weight maximum	1.0	1.0	2.0	3.0	5.0

Notes:

1.Standard Malaysian White Pepper and Special White Pepper shall have a generally pale creamy or dull brownish ivory appearance and shall not contain a substantial amount of dark or brown or mainly brown berries, the determination of which shall be based on a standard sample.

2.The mouldy pepper in Standard Malaysia pepper shall not exceed 1% by weight.