Piper nigrum L. (Piperaceae)

Abstract

A woody vine , native and cultivated in India, Sumatra, Java, Singapore, Penang, Brazil, and West Indies. Theophrastus mentioned two types of pepper in the 4th century B.C. and Dioscorides described white pepper , long pepper and black pepper . It was described in the Nighantas as bitter, pungent, digestive, hot and dry, and considered useful in intermittent fevers, hemorrhoids, dyspepsia, cough, gonorrhea, and flatulence, and to promote secretion of bile. Externally black pepper acts as detergent, absorbent, and irritant initially followed by analgesic effect, and is used for this property in leucoderma and discolored skin spots, and to relieve pain. It also grows hair when applied as a paste with onion and salt to ringworm of the scalp. Chewing it causes copious salivation; internally it is tonic for nerves, stomach and liver, digestant, appetizer, carminative, diuretic, emmenagogue, aphrodisiac and mucolytic. Dioscorides said that using powdered pepper with vinegar is useful in spleen inflammation, and Razi said that it relieves sour eructations, thins blood and improves complexion. Regular use of black pepper prevents intestinal colic, and keeps lungs clear of sticky phlegm. Twenty-one alkamides, including piperine, piperettine, piperettyline and feruperine have been isolated from the ethyl acetate extract; piperine is the main alkaloid present in the fruits. Major components of the fruit EO are β-caryophyllene, limonene, sabinene, β-pinene, 3-carene, and α-pinene. Cryogenic grinding of black pepper preserves the main potent aroma constituents than hammer milling and results in minimal damage to the color, flavor, and sensory attributes of the spice, but the concentrations of the main aroma constituents are dramatically reduced after storage at 4 °C for 6 months. Ethyl acetate or aqueous extracts markedly reduced body weight, percent fat, and fat-free mass, hyperlipidemia and its constituent physiological alterations in HFD-fed rats, and piperine in diet for 6-weeks simulated the above effects in HFD-fed rats. The extract of P. nigrum is the most effective cholesterol uptake inhibitor in vitro. Antioxidant components of Piper species constitute a very efficient system in scavenging a wide variety of ROS.