As one of the most prominent spices in the world, pepper (Piper nigrum L.) is extremely popular due to its aroma and flavor. Current study focuses mostly on the production of piperine in pepper, although starch, the primary component of pepper granules, has been researched infrequently and nothing is known about it. The potential for pepper starch to interact with pepper's active components is crucial to pepper production and industrial development. This study separated the starch in black pepper and white pepper using the sodium thiosulfate method and analyzed the two types of pepper starch using various characterization techniques to investigate the characteristics of starch in pepper (black pepper and white pepper) produced by different processing methods. The results indicated that the purity of black pepper starch and white pepper starch was 96.38 and 97.70%, respectively, with low protein, fat, and ash content, and that they belonged to the high-purity starch; SEM and particle size distribution analyses revealed that both black pepper starch and white pepper starch contained exceptionally small starch granules (volume-weighted average diameters of 3.44 μm and 4.80 μm, respectively), although the particle size distribution of black pepper starch was more irregular and broader. Both types of pepper starch had an A-shaped structure; White pepper starch contained more amylose (24.21%), relative crystallinity (34.21%), gelatinization temperature (90.42 ℃), gel strength (1466.72 g), tackiness (157.53), chewiness (87.55), gel enthalpy (15.80 J/g), and retrogradation value (1294.00 cP) when compared to black pepper starch. However, white pepper starch's molecular short-range order (0.67), peak viscosity (3074.00 cP), trough viscosity (2615.67 cP), breakdown viscosity (458.33 cP), and final viscosity (3909.67 cP) were significantly lower than those of black pepper starch (P<0.05), indicating that there are variations in the structure and physicochemical properties of pepper produced by various processing methods. In conclusion, the morphologies of the two types of pepper granules are comparable, and white pepper starch has more amylose concentration and molecular short-range order, as well as better gel qualities and retrogradation characteristics. The primary distinction between white pepper and black pepper is the presence or absence of exocarp; this distinction may be attributable to the presence of a small amount of starch in the exocarp of black pepper. The results of this study would lay a theoretical foundation for the application of pepper starch as a novel unconventional crop small-granular starch in the food and non-food industries and promote the sustainable growth of the pepper business.