Pepper belongs to the spices that probably almost everyone knows and it is also used in the perfume world in many ways. The oil of black pepper is obtained by steam distillation from the fruits of the pepper plant and then modified by fractional distillation (separation of the fragrance into its components) to reduce the terpene content and coloration.
The use of the modified oil avoids solubility problems in ethanol, which are common with crude oil.
Its smell is fresh, dry-woody, warm-spicy and reminiscent not only of the smell of dried black pepper, but also, for example, of elemi (tree resin) and other essential oils with high terpene content. Black pepper essential oil has no pungency, because the pungent substances of black pepper cannot be distilled with steam.
In perfumery, the oil gives interesting effects with eugenol and isoeugenol, e.g. in clove and rose bases, in oriental fragrances or in modern dry-aldehyde bases, amber fragrances, etc.