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black pepper

File:Piper_nigrum_-_Köhler–s_Medizinal-Pflanzen-107.jpg · Wikimedia Commons · See Wikimedia Commons

EntityQ43084· pop 135· linked from 2,996 articles

black pepper

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Also known as peppercorn, Piper nigrum

species of plant

OverviewAI-generated

Piper nigrum, commonly known as black pepper, is a species within the genus Piper and the family Piperaceae. It is classified as a crop and a useful plant. The organism is described as a climber native to Sri Lanka and India. Its taxon author citation is L.

The plant serves as a source of peppercorns and white pepper. It is used as a food, spice, medicinal plant, and for brewing. Black pepper is part of Turkish cuisine. Its fruit type is a drupe. The taxon range includes Fujian, the Tibet Autonomous Region, Guangdong, and São Luís.

There are 2,996 other encyclopedia articles that reference this subject. PubMed contains 2,251 records for the query black pepper.

Synthesized by Vinony from 27 facts across 4 sources: Wikidata, PubMed, Plants of the World, Vinony graph. Generated from structured data (not the Wikipedia text) and checked against those facts — may still contain errors.

Species

FamilyPiperaceae
Native toSri Lanka

Climbers woody. Nodes clearly enlarged and rooting, glabrous. Petiole 1-2 cm, glabrous; leaf blade ovate to ovate-oblong, rarely suborbicular, 10-15 × 5-9 cm, thick, ± leathery, glabrous, base rounded, usually slightly oblique, apex acute; veins 5-7(-9), apical pair arising 1.5-3.5 cm above base, alternate, others basal; reticulate veins prominent. Flowers polygamous, usually monoecious. Spikes leaf-opposed, to as long as leaves; peduncle nearly as long as petioles, glabrous; bracts spatulate-oblong, 3-3.5 × ca. 0.8 mm, adaxially adnate to rachis, only margin and broad, rounded apex free, shallowly cupular. Stamens 2, 1 on each side of ovary; filaments thick, short; anthers reniform. Ovary globose; stigmas 3 or 4, rarely 5. Drupe red when ripe, drying black when unripe, globose, 3-4 mm in diam., sessile. Fl. Jun-Oct.

via · Kew POWO

Research

2,251 papers

via PubMed

~25 min read

Encyclopedic overview

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 (1⁄4 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).

Black pepper is native to Southeast or South Asia. Ground, dried, and cooked peppercorns have been used since antiquity, both for flavour and as a traditional medicine. Black pepper is one of the most commonly traded spices in the world. Its spiciness is due to the chemical compound piperine, which is a different kind of spiciness from that of capsaicin characteristic of chilli 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.

Excerpted from Wikipedia’s “black pepper” article, available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.

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