(Photograph courtesy: Sh. Thilak Makkiseril, Kochi, Kerala)
English names: Black pepper, Peppercorn
Indian names: Kali mirch,
Kala mirch (Hindi, Punjabi, Bengali, Marathi),
Maricha, Ushana, Hapusha (Sanskrit),
Kalimrich, Kalamari (Gujrati), Kare minasu, Kurumulaku (Kannada),
Milagu (Tamil), Miriyala (Telgu)
Botanical name: Piper
nigrum
Family: Piperaceae
Chromosome
No: 2n= 52
Black pepper is a perennial climbing vine grown for its
berries that are extensively used as spice and in medicine. It can be variously
processed to prepare black, green, red and white peppercorns. Black pepper,
native to south India, is extensively cultivated in the Oriental tropical
regions. Black pepper is generally referred as ‘king of spices’ or ‘black
gold’, due to its widespread use, great commercial importance as well as
its innumerable medicinal applications. It finds an important place in every
kitchen and deserves a royal recognition. It is one of the most common spices
added to cuisines worldwide. It used to be one of the very first items of
commerce between India and Europe. It was valued so important in old times that
many expeditions were made in search of peppercorns. Sometimes, it was used as commodity money in trade during the
medieval times due to its very high value. It is the most traded spice in the
world. The calorific value of dry and green peppercorn is 304
and 98 kilo calories respectively. The characteristic aroma and pungency in
black pepper is due to presence of piperine, S-3-carene and β-caryophyllene.
Vietnam is the largest producer (216,432
tonnes annually) and exporter of black pepper in the world, contributing 34% of
the world's harvest (FAOSTAT, 2015). Other major pepper producing countries are Indonesia
(89,000 tonnes), India (55,000 tonnes),
Brazil (42,000
tonnes) and China (31,000 tonnes). An area of 527,848 hectare was under pepper
cultivation in the world in 2016, which produced 546,259 tonnes of peppercorns.
An area of 129000 hectare is under pepper cultivation in India (FAOSTAT, 2016)
with a production of 55,000 tonnes of peppercorns. In India, it is mostly
cultivated in Kerala (more than 90% production), Karnataka and Tamil Nadu.
Origin and Domestication
Black
pepper is believed to be originated in south India, South Asia and Southeast
Asia. It is known to Indians since very
long and is integral part of Indian cooking since at least 2000 BC. It was
grown in southern Thailand, Java, Sunda, Sumatra, Madagascar and Malaysia
during the medieval times.
Botanical Characteristics
The
black pepper (Piper nigrum) plant is a week-stemmed, glabrous, perennial
and woody climbing vine. It can grow up to a height of 4-6 m on supporting
trees (sometimes also on poles or trellises). However, vines can grow to 8-15 m
in wild conditions. Stem is branched, has long internodes and develops roots on
the nodes which help in climbing. It has two types of branches, the orthotropic
climbing branches and the plagiotropic fruiting branches. Leaves are simple,
alternate and often unequal sided. They are coriaceous, dark green and shiny
above and pale and gland dotted below. The lamina shape is cordate to ovate in
orthotropic branches and ovate to ovate-elliptic on plagiotropic branches. Inflorescence is a pendant spike borne
opposite to the leaf on fruiting branches. The spikes are 2-17 cm long and bear
up to 100 minute flowers. Cultivated vines are monoecious exhibiting
variability in the composition of male, female and hermaphrodite flowers. The
high yielding cultivars have 70-100% bisexual flowers. The black pepper is a
self pollinating plant. The fruit is a sessile globose drupe (though known as
berry) with a pulpy pericarp. The green unripe fruits turn red on ripening and
turn black after drying. Each has a minute embryo with little endosperm and
copious perisperm.
(Photo source: Wikipedia @ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_pepper)
Cultivation
Black pepper crop can be successfully grown in humid (rainfall of 125-
250 cm) and warm tropical climate. Plants prefer fertile and well drained loam
soil. The
seeds, although fully viable, are not commonly used for raising nursery
plantations. Black pepper plants are propagated through cuttings taken from runner
shoots (which originate from the base of the vine and creep on the ground) to
obtain genetically uniform nursery. The runner shoots develop roots at each
node on the ground. The rooted cuttings are planted during the rainy season.
The pits of 50 cm3 at a distance of 30 cm away from the base are
prepared on the north, eastern or north eastern side of the supporting trees.
The pits
are filled with a mixture of top soil, farmyard manure @ 5 kg/pit and 150 g
rock phosphate. Two to three rooted cuttings of black pepper are planted
individually in each of the pits after the onset of monsoon. The vines are allowed to climb on the
supporting trees (also called standard). Sometimes, they are allowed to trail
only up to 1.5 m, and thereafter, separated from the standard and again buried
in the soil near the standard. This induces development of more leader shoots,
covering of the entire standard and development of more laterals from the base
of the standard. Most favoured supporting trees for black pepper in India are
coconut, areca nut, mango and jack-fruit. ICAR-Indian Institute of
Spices Research has recommended manuring in May with farm yard manure @ 10 kg
per vine and with NPK @ 50:
50: 150 g/vine/year, when the vines become 3 years old and above. Azospirillum can also be used as a biofertilizer ( @ 50
g/vine) in black pepper crop to obtain organic product.
The harvesting is done manually through hand picking as soon as one or two
fruits at the base of the spikes begin to turn red. The collected spikes are
dried under the sun and then the peppercorns are stripped off from the dry
spikes.
Varieties
1. General
Varieties: Karimunda,
Kottandan, Narayankodi, Aimpiriyan, Balamkotta, Cheriakodi, Kalluvalley,
Morata, Neelamundi, Uthirakotta, Uddagare, etc.
2. Improved
Varieties: Sreekara,
Subhakara, Panchami, Pournami, PLD-2, IISR-Thevam, IISR-Girimunda, IISR-Malabar
Excel, IISR-Shakthi
Types of Peppers
1.
Black Pepper:
It is processed from the green, unripe drupes of the
pepper plant. They are put briefly in hot water (directly dried in some cases)
to clean and to prepare them for drying. Thereafter, they are dried for several
days. The fruit wall shrinks and darkens into a thin and wrinkled black layer
around the fruits.
2.
White Pepper:
It represents the true seed of the pepper plant. Fully ripe drupes are soaked
in water or heaped for about a week and allowed to ferment. After retting or decomposition,
outer layer of the fruit is separated and washed, leaving behind white coloured
fruits. They are dried and stored for further use.
3.
Green Pepper:
It
is processed from the unripe drupes like black pepper. The fresh green
peppercorns are canned or treated with sulphur dioxide or freeze-dried to
retain the green colour.
4.
Red or Orange Pepper: It consists of fully ripe red
pepper drupes preserved in brine and vinegar. They can also be dried using the
colour-preserving techniques followed to prepare green pepper.
(Photo source: Wikipedia @ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_pepper)
Chemical
Constituents
α-Pinene, β-Pinene,
1-α-Phellandrene, Piperonal, Dihydrocarveol, β-Caryophyllene, Piperidine, etc.
Aromatic and slightly musty odour of black pepper is due
to the presence of volatile oils found in the flesh and skin. The pungent taste
of peppers is due to alkaloids and resins mostly found in seeds.
Uses
1.
Universal
Spice and Condiment: Pepper is one of the oldest and world's most
important spice. Because of its widespread and wide ranging uses in kitchen.
It forms an integral part of all the readymade garam masala available in the Indian market.
2.
Flavouring
Ingredient: Pepper is used as a flavouring ingredient in
non-alcoholic beverages, candies, baked foods, meat products and cheese.
3.
Pepper
Oil: Pepper oil obtained from peppercorns is used as an
adjunct in flavouring of sausages, canned meat, soups and table sauces.
4.
Anti-oxidant:
Various scientific studies have proved that black pepper has strong
anti-oxidative properties and delays aging.
5.
Medicinal
Uses: Black pepper has high medicinal value and
therefore, widely used to stay healthy and also to treat various disease
conditions. The pepper fruits have carminative, aphrodisiac, diuretic,
anti-inflammatory, analgesic and stimulant properties. They have been
reported to be useful in arthritis, asthma, fever, cough, dysentery, dyspepsia
and flatulence. It stimulates the digestive juices and enzymes and promotes
digestion. Recent studies have shown that piperine present in black pepper
protects against different forms of cancers and also lowers the blood pressure.
Black pepper delays the brain aging and also prevents Alzheimer’s and
Parkinson’s disease.
6.
Insecticide:
Piperine present in peppercorns is an effective insecticide against houseflies
and other insects.
7.
Flovouring
of Alcoholic Drinks: Piperine present in black pepper is used to impart a
pungent taste to brandy in some countries.
Further Reading
Ø Cumo, C. 2013. Encyclopedia of
Cultivated Plants. ABC-CLIO, LLC.
Ø Daniel, M. 2013. Useful Herbs of
Planet Earth. Scientific Publisher, Jodhpur.
Ø Kochhar, S.L. 2016. Economic Botany:
A Comprehensive Study. Cambridge University Press.
Ø Lim, T.K. 2012. Edible Medicinal and
Non-Medicinal Plants: 4. Fruits. Springer Science+Business Media
B.V.
Ø Thakur, A.K., Bassi, S.K. and Kango, N.
2018. Economic Botany and Biotechnology. S. Dinesh & Co., Jalandhar.
.jpg)
.jpg)
.JPG)
.JPG)
.JPG)
