Black Pepper (Piper Nigrum) is a flowering vine in the family of Piperaceae, cultivated for its fruits, known as peppercorns. Peppercorns have been used since antiquity for flavor & as traditional medicine. It is the most traded spice & one of the most common spices added to the cuisine around the world.
Origin of Black Pepper:
Peppercorns is native to the southwestern coast of India (Malabar Coast in Kerala) & now cultivated in other tropical regions. It is a flowering vine in the family of Piperaceae, cultivated for its fruits known as a peppercorn. Black Pepper is cooked & dried unripe peppercorn & White Pepper is dried ripe peppercorn.
.
Production & trade
Peppercorns are among the widest traded spice in the world. The largest producer of peppercorn is Ethiopia, Vietnam, Brazil, Indonesia, India, China & Malaysia. Production may vary annually according to crop management, disease & weather.
History
The black pepper has journeyed thousands of years to makes its way to your table & kitchen shelves. It is native to the Indian subcontinent & plays a significant role in Indian cuisine & Ayurveda. The word pepper comes from the Sanskrit word Pippali which means berry & Piper is a Latin word for pepper.
People using black pepper goes back to 2000 BCE in India. Peppercorns were also used for mummification rituals & are found stuffed in the nostrils of Ramesses II, shortly after his death in 1213 BCE. That shows that it has been traded from India to Egypt in 1200 BCE. Pepper was one of the first commodities to be traded in the world.
Rome conquered Egypt in 30 BCE & from there, the southern route enhanced trade between the ancient Roman Empire & the Indian subcontinent. Roman loved it and introduced it to the European world. They bought the black pepper from the Malabar coast & paid for it in gold, & this spice is also known as Black Gold. When Dutch & Portuguese managed the spice trade, pepper was so valuable that it was worth more than gold by weight. That’s how it earns the title of Black Gold.
Traditional Medicine
Black pepper has lots of health benefits. People have used pepper as a traditional medicine for thousands of years. It has been important in Indian Ayurvedic medicine. It cures constipation, toothache, insomnia, and other diseases. Peppers also appears in the Buddhist Samaññaphala Sutta (Part of a series in Buddhism) as one of the few medicine monks allowed to carry.
It also increases the bioavailability (better absorption) of many herbs in the body. So in Ayurveda, you will find many formulations of black pepper in form of trikatu. Trikatu is a combination of 3 herbs or spices – Dry Ginger powder + black pepper + pippali.
Nutritional Value
One tablespoon of ground black pepper contains 13% of daily value Vitamin K, 10% DV of Iron, & 18% DV of Manganese & other essential nutrients like proteins & dietary fiber.
The researcher also found several health benefits of it:
Pepper is an antioxidant that provides anti-inflammatory & anti-microbial effects & also boosts brain function & increases the level of good cholesterol.
black pepper is a good source of calcium nice informative blog
black pepper is a good source of calcium nice informative blog.