Known as the “king of spices?”, black pepper (Piper nigrum) is the unripe green berries (drupes) of the pepper vine that become black when they are cooked briefly in hot water and dried in the sun — compared to white (or yellow) pepper which is the peeled ripe red berries, and green pepper which is just dried.
Originally from Asia and India (the most important source being the ancient Malabar coast in what is now Kerala), today it is a major export from Indonesia, Malaysia and Brazil. Its culinary and medicinal uses have been recorded in India since at least 2000 BCE. Peppercorns were highly valued — often called “black gold” and used as a form of commodity or money. Even today, we have the term “peppercorn rent” — meaning a token payment or a gift.
Today, black pepper is the world’s most traded spice with vanilla coming in second and ginger third, according to a 2022 report from World’s Top Exports.
Therapeutic uses
Piperine is the main alkaloid in black pepper (Piper nigrum) and it also contains essential oils, terpenes, and other alkaloids such as chavicine and piperidine. These ingredients add up to pepper having carminative, antioxidant, and anti-inflammatory effects. Pepper also has stimulant properties, mostly evident on the mucous membranes of the rectum and urinary organs. As a result of these actions, black pepper has a range of medicinal uses.
Hepatoprotective
Piperine influences enzymatic drug biotransformation reactions in the liver enhancing bioavailability of the drugs and protecting the liver against damage. Piperine improves fatty liver, reduces insulin resistance and is anti-inflammatory.
Cooking
An interesting article showed that mixing one gram of black pepper with 100g ground beef almost completely removed the cancercausingheterocyclic amines generated during cooking meat.
Neurological
Pepper improves cognitive brain function and is an antidepressant. Rat studies have shown that Piper nigrum significantly improves memory and reduces oxidative activity in the hippocampus of the brain, reducing amyloid deposits in the brains of rats with Alzheimer’s disease.
Digestion
Black pepper is gastroprotective, improves gastrointestinal functionality, improves nutrient absorption, and repairs ulceration. By favourably stimulating digestive enzymes (including salivary amylase, pancreatic enzymes and bile production), it also enhances digestion of foods and significantly reduces gastrointestinal food transit time.
Piperine is synergistic with curcumin and resveratrol improving digestion and bioavailability of these anti-inflammatory compounds.
Antioxidant
Piperine is the major antioxidant component, being a general systemic antioxidant, and the antioxidant studies showed a reduction in oxidative damage in renal, cardiac, and hepatic tissues along with the reduction of atherosclerosis in animals on high atherosclerotic diets.
Cardiovascular
Research demonstrates that piperine has multiple beneficial effects in reducing atherosclerosis and improving cardiovascular health. It has anti-inflammatory effects on the endothelial layer, prevents lipid peroxidation, removes cholesterol from macrophages and significantly improves lipid profiles. It also has antihypertensive and antithrombotic effects, and relieves myocardial ischemia, cardiac injury and cardiac fibrosis as well as inhibiting vascular smooth muscle proliferation reducing arterial blockages.
Antimicrobial
Piperine is antimicrobial and has shown activity against both the Ebola and Dengue viruses, as well as Staph aureus, Leishmania and Candida albicans. Traditionally it was used to neutralise snake venom — particularly from Russell’s viper — reducing the venom induced haemorrhage, necrosis, inflammation (mast cell degranulation) and lethality (at least in rats).
Anti-inflammatory
The anti-inflammatory effects of piperine have shown marked symptoms improvement in both rheumatoid arthritis in rat studies, and human osteoarthritis.
References available on request
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