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I’m Asking about the solubility of black pepper in oil and water i guess.

If you use it with just oil I imagine it will taste strong.

If you use it with oil and water e.g. in a stew I guess it will get diluted in the oil and Hence the taste will go or become less while not being concentrated in the oil?

James Wilson
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  • Can you give more details on the application you're planning for your pepper? In determining the taste, water x oil is not really the most relevant factor and I need to rule out the other more dominant ones to give you a good answer :) – Juliana Karasawa Souza Sep 24 '19 at 16:44
  • @JulianaKarasawaSouza assume your only ingredients were black pepper and oil, then another dish black pepper, oil and water, hoe would it taste. I’ve tried the former and you can taste the black pepper strongly. I’m thinking if u wanted a black pepper stew the flavour would just not be as apparent due to dilution with water. – James Wilson Sep 24 '19 at 16:59
  • Is your application cooked or raw? Was your test submitted to heat? – Juliana Karasawa Souza Sep 24 '19 at 17:02
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    when you cook black pepper for a long it looses some of its taste/flavor. – Max Sep 24 '19 at 17:21

2 Answers2

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Black pepper is an aromatic spice, so the taste properties are based on volatile compounds that are released from the pepper and into your airways (you actually taste through your nose, not your tongue).

That being said, the most relevant factors for you to know if the taste will last or not are:

  • The exposure to oxygen (that's why freshly ground pepper is much more intense than pre-ground pepper)
  • The exposure to heat (that's why if you make a stew, it is advised to pepper it close to removal from heat so it doesn't lose the flavor)

After ruling out these factors (you're using the same pepper, and cooking time is the same or we're talking about a raw dish), you have better solubility of the pepper compounds in an oil-water mixture than in pure water or pure oil, and better in pure oil than in pure water.

Mixture > Oil > Water

Juliana Karasawa Souza
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The chemical which gives black pepper its kick is called piperene. According to Wikipedia (I haven't dug through the references to find the primary source) it has a solubility of 40mg in one litre of water. That's very low, although it does have to be balanced against the fact that pepper is used in low concentrations anyway.

Its solubility is much higher in organic solvents.

Peter Taylor
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