Piper nigrum is a climbing shrub producing a cluster of woody stems up to 10 metres tall, though more commonly 3 - 4 metres in cultivation. The stems attach themselves to other vegetation by means of adventitious roots.
Black pepper has been used as a spice and medicine for thousands of years. It is widely cultivated in tropical areas for its seed, which is the source of black, white and green peppercorns, commonly used as a hot flavouring in foods. The seeds are also much used in traditional medicine, particularly for treating digestive ailments. The plant is usually grown as a secondary crop in the shade of a taller crop.

Known Hazards

None known

Habitat

Not known

Cultivation Status

Cultivated, Wild

Cultivation Details

Piper nigrum is a plant of the hot and humid lowland tropics, where it grows best at elevations up to 500 metres, but can be grown up to 2,000 metres. It grows best in areas where annual daytime temperatures are within the range 22 - 35°c, but can tolerate 10 - 40°c. It prefers a mean annual rainfall in the range 2,500 - 4,000mm, but tolerates 2,000 - 5,500m. Grows best in sheltered positions in semi-shade. Prefers a neutral soil rich in organic matter. Prefers a pH in the range 6 - 7, tolerating 5 - 7.5. Level ground is most suitable for the production of pepper, provided there is no flooding, but it is often grown in rolling country or on hill slopes of varying steepness. The plant begins to bear in 3 - 4 years, can reach full production after 7 years and has an economic life of about 12 - 20 years. Optimum yields at low capital input are 6 tonnes per hectare of the unprocessed (green) peppers; 2 tonnes of the sun dried (black) peppers; or 1.67 tonnes of the washed and dried (white) peppers. In gardens with higher inputs, yields may be 8 - 9 tonnes of green pepper in the first harvest and 12 - 20 tonnes in the sixth or seventh harvest. The root system can be 4 metres or more deep.

Edible Uses

The pungent fruits, known as peppercorns, are dried, ground into a powder known as black pepper, and used as a condiment. A hot flavour. The globose, red fruit is 4 - 6mm in diameter. A milder flavoured spice, known as white pepper, can be obtained if the outer coverings of the fruit are removed. Unripe green fruits are pickled in vinegar and used as a relish. An essential oil obtained from the seed is used to flavour various foods.

Medicinal

Black pepper fruits contain an essential oil (comprising beta-bisbolene, camphene, beta-caryophyllene and many other terpenes and sesquiterpenes), up to 9% alkaloids (especially piperine which is responsible for the acrid taste), about 11% protein and small quantities of minerals. They are a pungent, aromatic, warming herb that lowers fever, is antiseptic and improves digestion. Black pepper is regarded as a stimulating expectorant in Western and Ayurvedic medicine, and as a tranquilizing and anti-emetic in Chinese medicine. The seed is used internally to treat indigestion and wind in western herbalism. In Chinese medicine it is used as a warming herb to treat stomach chills, food poisoning, cholera, dysentery, diarrhoea and vomiting caused by cold. It is used externally in Ayurvedic medicine to treat nasal congestion, sinusitis, epilepsy and skin inflammations. The essential oil is antiseptic, antibacterial and febrifuge. It has been used to ease rheumatic pain and toothache.

Agroforestry Uses

None Recorded

Other Uses

An essential oil obtained from the fruits is used in perfumery to add bouquets of oriental types producing spicy notes. The powdered berries can be used as an insecticide against clothes moths.

Propagation

Seed - ripe, shade-dried seeds with the mesocarp removed germinate in 2 - 3 weeks. Cuttings - very easy and the most common commercial method of propagation. Use shoots of wood, about 45cm long, taken from parts of the plant that have already flowered. Ample roots should have formed within 2 months. Direct planting of cuttings is sometimes practiced. Division of stolons or suckers. These grow away well, but flowering spike formation will be retarded by 2 years, because the formation of lateral branches on the orthotropic stem is delayed.