Black Pepper

Black Pepper (Piper nigrum) is a flowering vine in the family Piperaceae, cultivated for its fruit, the peppercorn, which is dried and used as a spice and seasoning. Native to South and Southeast Asia, it is one of the world's most traded spices. The same fruit is used to produce black, white, and green peppercorns. Black pepper is the cooked and dried unripe fruit, green pepper is the dried unripe fruit, and white pepper is the ripe fruit seeds. The black pepper plant is a perennial woody vine that can grow up to 4 meters (13 feet) in height on supporting trees, poles, or trellises. It has alternate, entire leaves that are 5 to 10 cm (2 to 4 in) long. The small flowers are produced on pendulous spikes, and the fruit is a drupe about 5 millimeters (0.20 in) in diameter, dark red when fully mature, with a single seed in its center. The spiciness of black pepper is due to the chemical piperine. Black pepper has a long history as a prized spice, with its use dating back to antiquity. It was a significant commodity in the spice trade between Asia and Europe, and its value was so high that it was sometimes referred to as "black gold". Beyond its culinary importance, black pepper has also been used in traditional medicine. The Piper genus also includes other significant plants such as long pepper (P. longum), kava (P. methysticum), and betel (P. betle).