First I want to say at this price 250g (5 bags of 50g) it is almost impossible here to expect perfect quality. When I tipped a bag in a bowl for the content closer look, I realized that both black seeds and pericarp and spines of the shrub were present. When consumption of the ground product as it crunched Währe while a grain of sand. After some investigation on the net I read that this is the hard shell of the seeds, which are normally removed during Szechuanpfeffer because only in the pericarp of the aromatic taste responsible substances are present. So I have taken the trouble and the seeds separated from the pods, which is not that easy as some seeds still firmly in the not fully open pod stuck. Should I once again get Szechuanpfeffer I'm on the eighth only the fruit pods are processed in the product.