Black Pepper
Also known as- Piper nigrum, black pepper, Blanc Poivre, Kosho, Krishna, Maricha, Pepe, Pepper, Pepper Extract, Pepper Plant, Peppercorn, Pfeffer, Pimenta, Pimienta, Piper, Piperine, Poivre, Poivre Noir, Vellaja, White Pepper.
Introduction
Peppercorns are the fruit of Piper nigrum, an evergreen climbing vine. Black, white, and green peppercorns all come form the same plant, but they are harvested at different times and handled in different ways. To make black pepper, the clusters are plucked when they are not quite ripe. They are then left in piles to ferment. After a few days, the berries are spread out on a mat and left to dry in the sun for two or three more days until they are shriveled and nearly black.
Black pepper has been cultivated for thousands of years on the Malabar coast of southwestern India, in the region defined by the modern state of Kerala. For much of the last two thousands years, black pepper was a luxury for the very rich, a commodity so valuable that it was even used as money. Nowadays black pepper is common around world and used in the cuisine of almost every nation.
Constituents
Black pepper contains about 3% essential oil. The aroma is due to the 80% content of monoterpenes: sabinene, beta-pinene, limonene, furthermore terpinene, alpha-pinene, myrcene, delta-3-carene and monoterpene derivatives (borneol, carvone, carvacrol, 1,8-cineol, linalool). Sesquiterpenes make up about 20% of the essential oil: beta-caryophyllene, humulene, beta-bisabolone and caryophyllene ketone.
Parts Used
The dried whole berries, ground.
Typical Preparations
Traditionally added to food. Can be taken in capsule form.
Summary
The black pepper many of us use every day to season food has a wide variety of medicinal applications. Ancient herbalists used pepper as a stimulant to weak membranes, especially to treat runny nose, and also to treat hemorrhoids. Ayurvedic medicines use tiny amounts of black pepper to make the other herbs in the formula more available to the body.
Recent scientific investigations indicate that the piperine in black pepper may act as:
• Antidepressant
• Antioxidant, protecting cholesterol from changes that lead to calcification and formation of atherosclerotic plaques,
• Antiproliferative, preventing spread of cancer cells and
• A pain relief agent even stronger than capsaicin.
Ground black pepper (although not peppercorns) can keep food fresh. In 1998, the Quarterly Review of Biology reported that ground black pepper killed about 25% of the bacteria that could cause spoilage of food. In combination with garlic, allspice, onion, or oregano, black pepper could kill almost all of the bacteria that could cause food to spoil.
Precautions
Avoid excessive use of black pepper (more than 1 teaspoon per day) if you take prescription digoxin (Lanoxin) or phenytoin (Dilantin). Too much pepper may slow the rate at which the liver clears these medications from the bloodstream.
