Black pepper

Black pepper
Pepper plant with immature peppercorns
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Magnoliids
Order: Piperales
Family: Piperaceae
Genus: Piper
Species:
P. nigrum
Binomial name
Piper nigrum

Black pepper (Piper nigrum) is a flowering vine in the family Piperaceae, cultivated for its fruit (the peppercorn), which is usually dried and used as a spice and seasoning. The fruit is a drupe (stonefruit) which is about 5 mm (0.20 in) in diameter (fresh and fully mature), dark red, and contains a stone which encloses a single pepper seed. Peppercorns and the ground pepper derived from them may be described simply as pepper, or more precisely as black pepper (cooked and dried unripe fruit), green pepper (dried unripe fruit), or white pepper (ripe fruit seeds).[2]

Black pepper is native to the Malabar Coast of India,[3][4] and the Malabar pepper is extensively cultivated there and in other tropical regions. Ground, dried, and cooked peppercorns have been used since antiquity, both for flavour and as a traditional medicine. Black pepper is the world's most traded spice,[5] and is one of the most common spices added to cuisines around the world. Its spiciness is due to the chemical compound piperine, which is a different kind of spiciness from that of capsaicin characteristic of chili peppers. It is ubiquitous in the Western world as a seasoning, and is often paired with salt and available on dining tables in shakers or mills.

  1. ^ "Piper nigrum". Germplasm Resources Information Network. Agricultural Research Service, United States Department of Agriculture. Retrieved 2 March 2008.
  2. ^ Harrison, Paul (27 January 2016). "What Are The Different Kinds of Peppercorns?". Food Republic. Retrieved 21 November 2019.
  3. ^ Sen, Colleen Taylor (2004). Food Culture in India – Food culture around the world. Greenwood Publishing Group. p. 58. ISBN 978-0-313-32487-1. Peppers, called the king of spices, are the dried berries of a tropical vine native to Kerala, which is India's major producer
  4. ^ Hajeski, Nancy J (2016). National Geographic Complete Guide to Herbs and Spices: Remedies, Seasonings, and Ingredients to Improve Your Health and Enhance Your Life. National Geographic Books. p. 236. ISBN 978-1-4262-1588-9.
  5. ^ (2018, February 6). These are the world’s three most traded spices. ITC. https://intracen.org/news-and-events/news/these-are-the-worlds-three-most-traded-spices