Black pepper

Piper nigrum

Black pepper  - a perennial woody climber growing to about 15 ft (5 m). Black pepper has large oval leaves, spikes of small white flowers, and clusters of small round fruits, which ripen from green to red.

No plant since the apple of Eden has had a larger, more telling effect on human history than the black pepper vine. Beginning in 327 B.C., when Alexander the Great invaded India and discovered the pleasures of well-seasoned food, wars have been fought, kingdoms overthrown, unknown oceans braved, and continents discovered-all for the sake of the shriveled, beadlike fruits known as peppercorns. Attila the Hun, holding all of Rome hostage, demanded 3,000 pounds of them as tribute. Throughout medieval Europe, pepper was commonly traded, ounce for ounce, for gold. In 1488, in search of a water route to the spice markets of India, Bartholomeu Dias first sailed the raging waters around Africa's Cape of Good Hope. Four years later, looking for an easier route to the same markets, Columbus landed in the New World. In the centuries that followed, European nations vied viciously with each other in colonizing tropical lands and trying to corner the spice market.

The fruits that inspired these deeds are produced by a woody, broad-leaved evergreen vine that is cultivated today in many tropical lands, from India, Indonesia, and Malaysia to South America and the West Indies. The stout vine, which is allowed to climb poles or small trees in cultivation, bears many slender, densely packed flower spikes. The fruits that develop upon these spikes are generally harvested while still green; the signal is the reddening of the lowest fruits on a spike. The green fruits are dried until the flesh around the single hard seed is wrinkled and grayish black, then ground into black pepper or packaged and sold as whole peppercorns. The milder white pepper is made from the same plant; but the fruits are allowed to ripen, and the flesh is removed before the seeds are ground.

Black pepper's aromatic, slightly musty odor comes from the volatile oils found largely in the flesh and skin; its pungent bite comes from the alkaloids- piperine and piperidine-and resins found mostly in the seeds. The oils go into perfumes and flavorings. The searing substances have served many purposes: they have gone into liniments and gargles; they have been used as carminatives, reducing stomach and intestinal gas; and they have been found to stimulate the activity of the heart and kidneys. Piperine is also an effective insectide against houseflies, and gardeners use pepper sprays against several kinds of pests.

Cubeb berries, the fruits of the closely related cubeb pepper, P. cubeba, contain substances that have been used as antiseptics, carminatives, and diuretics. Ground into powder and added to cigarettes, they are smoked, in the tropical areas where they grow, for the relief of throat inflammations. Oil of cubeb is a constituent of some throat lozenges.

Parts used

Fruit, essential oil.

Uses

The familiar sharp taste of black pepper reflects the stimulant effect it has on the digestive tract and the circulatory system. Pepper is commonly taken, either alone or in combination with other herbs and spices, to warm the body, or to improve digestive function in cases of nausea, stomachache, flatulence, bloating, constipation, or lack of appetite. The essential oil eases rheumatic pain and toothache. It is antiseptic and antibacterial, and reduces fever.

Habitat & cultivation

Native to southwestern India, pepper is now cultivated in tropical areas around the world. The fruit is harvested from plants at least 3 years old. Green peppercorns are picked unripe and pickled, black peppercorns are picked unripe and dried, red peppercorns are picked ripe and dried, and white peppercorns are picked ripe and soaked in water for 8 days before drying.

Constituents

Black pepper contains a volatile oil (including beta-bisabolene, camphene, beta-caryophyllene, and many other terpenes and sesquiterpenes), up to 9% alkaloids (especially piperine, largely responsible for the herb's acrid taste), about 11 % proteins, and small amounts of minerals. White pepper contains very little volatile oil.

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