Black Pepper

Also Known As: Pepper, Black Peppercorn

Botanical Name: Piper Nigrum

Family Name: Piperaceae

Native To: India

Parts To Use: Fruit

How It’s Used: The heating properties of black pepper work to help metabolize food as it is digested in our system. The taste of black pepper on the tongue triggers the stomach to release hydrochloric acid, which is needed to digest protein. Its heat works as a stimulant used to clear congestion in the respiratory system. Black pepper can be consumed as powder, tea, or oil.

Harvesting: A pepper plant takes four years to mature, but can be harvested for seven years afterward. You can tell that peppercorns are ready for harvest when one or two clusters of fruit on a low-hanging stem begin to turn red. Once harvested, they are dried by either the sun or a machine. The peppercorns turn black after three days of drying.

Black pepper has been grown in Southern India for over two thousand years. Next to salt, pepper is the most popular spice being used for thousands of years. It has been used in Indian cooking since at least 2000 BC. It has been deemed the “king of spices” and used in ancient Ayurvedic medicine for thousands of years due to its high concentration of potent, beneficial plant compounds. It has been popular in India for thousands of years and is now easy to find almost anywhere on the planet.

The pepper plant is a tropical perennial vine requiring a trellis or some other support such as a tree to grow along. It can grow to a height of 13ft. It has aromatic, green leaves that give off a strong fragrance and greenish yellow flower spikes. A single stem bears 20 to 30 fruiting spikes. The plants bear fruit from the fourth or fifth year, and then typically for seven years after.

Black pepper is a hot, pungent herb that stimulates digestion by supporting the secretion of fluids and circulation of blood in the GI tract. Black Pepper’s most active constituent, Piperine, has been found to support the absorption of other herbs. Piperine also protects against free radicals and reactive oxygen species, as well as influences antioxidant enzymes. Laboratory studies suggest that black pepper can improve cholesterol levels, blood sugar control, and brain and gut health.

People apply black pepper to the skin for measles, nerve pain, itchy skin caused by mites, and to treat pain. People take black pepper by mouth for arthritis, asthma, upset stomach, bronchitis, bacterial infections, diarrhea, gas, headache, sinus infection, dizziness, and weight loss. People inhale black pepper oil to prevent falls, to help quit smoking, and for trouble swallowing. In foods, black pepper and black pepper oil are used as a spice.