Black pepper that originated as a chance seedling in a geographical region that now forms part of the present-day state of Kerala in India. The area of production of this variety of pepper now covers all the regions that are part of the Malabar Coast. Malabar pepper was one of the commodities most sought after by the ancient Roman and Arab traders, and later by the early European navigators.

Malabar pepper is classified under two grades known as garbled and un-garbled. The garbled variety is black in color nearly globular with a wrinkled surface. The ungarbled variety has a wrinkled surface and the color varies from dark brown to black.

The ungarbled variety has a wrinkled surface and the colour varies from dark brown to black.