black pepper

black pepper
a hot, sharp condiment prepared from the dried berries of a tropical vine, Piper nigrum.

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Perennial, woody climbing vine (Piper nigrum) of the family Piperaceae, native to India; also, the hotly pungent spice made from its berries.

One of the earliest spices known, pepper is probably the most widely used spice in the world today. It early became an important article of overland trade between India and Europe. The plant is cultivated throughout Indonesia and has been introduced into tropical areas elsewhere. It has broad, shiny leaves and dense, slender spikes of small flowers. The small berrylike fruits are called peppercorns. See also pepper.

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plant
also called  Pepper 
 (Piper nigrum), perennial climbing vine of the family Piperaceae indigenous to the Malabār Coast of India, or the hotly pungent spice made from its berries. One of the earliest spices known, pepper is probably the most widely used spice in the world today. It has a limited usage in medicine as a carminative and as a stimulant of gastric secretions.

      In early historic times pepper was widely cultivated in the tropics of Southeast Asia, where it became highly regarded as a condiment. Pepper early became an important article of overland trade between India and Europe. It became a medium of exchange, and tributes were levied in pepper in ancient Greece and Rome. In the Middle Ages the Venetians and the Genoese became the main distributors, their virtual monopoly of the trade helping instigate the search for an eastern sea route.

      The plant is widely cultivated throughout Indonesia. It has been introduced into tropical areas of Africa and of the Western Hemisphere. A woody climber, it may reach heights of 10 m (33 feet) by means of its aerial roots. Its broad, shiny green leaves are alternately arranged. The small flowers are in dense, slender spikes of about 50 blossoms each. The berrylike fruits, or peppercorns, are about 5 mm (0.2 inch) in diameter. They become yellowish red at maturity and bear a single seed. Their odour is penetrating and aromatic; the taste is hot, biting, and very pungent.

      The plant requires a long rainy season, fairly high temperatures, and partial shade for best growth. Propagation is usually by stem cuttings, which are set out near a tree or a pole that will serve as a support. Pepper plants are sometimes interspersed in tea or coffee plantations. They begin bearing in 2 to 5 years and may produce for as long as 40 years.

      The berries are picked when they begin to turn red. The collected berries are immersed in boiling water for about 10 minutes, which causes them to turn dark brown or black in an hour. Then they are spread out to dry in the sun for three or four days. The whole peppercorns, when ground, yield black pepper. White pepper is obtained by removing the outer part of the pericarp. The outer coating is softened either by keeping the berries in moist heaps for 2 or 3 days or by keeping them in sacks submerged in running water for 7 to 15 days, depending on the region. The softened outer coating is then removed by washing and rubbing or by trampling, and the berries are spread in the sun to dry. Whole white pepper can also be prepared by grinding off the outer coating mechanically. The flavour is less pungent than that of black pepper.

      Pepper contains up to 3 percent essential oil that has the aromatic flavour of pepper but not the pungency. The pungent principles are contained in the oleoresin and consist of piperine, chavicine, piperidine, and piperettine.

      Various plants called pepper, including the California pepper tree Schinus molle, the pepper vine Ampelopsis arborea, and the sweet pepper bush Clethra alnifolia, are grown as ornamental plants and are not used as spices. See also pepper.

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Universalium. 2010.

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Look at other dictionaries:

  • Black pepper — Pepper plant with immature peppercorns Scientific classification Kingdom: Plantae …   Wikipedia

  • black pepper — n. pepper ground from the whole fruits of the pepper plant, including the black outer covering: see PEPPER (n. 1) …   English World dictionary

  • black pepper — noun uncount pepper produced from dried crushed pepper seeds and their hard black cover …   Usage of the words and phrases in modern English

  • black pepper — n [U] pepper made from crushed seeds from which the dark outer covering has not been removed →↑white pepper …   Dictionary of contemporary English

  • black pepper — n a condiment that consists of the fruit of an East Indian plant of the genus Piper (P. nigrum) ground with the black husk still on …   Medical dictionary

  • black pepper — noun 1. climber having dark red berries (peppercorns) when fully ripe; southern India and Sri Lanka; naturalized in northern Burma and Assam • Syn: ↑pepper, ↑common pepper, ↑white pepper, ↑Madagascar pepper, ↑Piper nigrum • Hypernyms: ↑true …   Useful english dictionary

  • black pepper — N UNCOUNT Black pepper is pepper which is dark in colour and has been made from the dried berries of the pepper plant, including their black outer cases …   English dictionary

  • black pepper — juodasis pipiras statusas T sritis vardynas apibrėžtis Pipirinių šeimos prieskoninis, vaistinis augalas (Piper nigrum), paplitęs atogrąžų Azijoje (Indijoje). Iš jo gaminami maisto priedai (kvėpikliai). atitikmenys: lot. Piper nigrum angl. black… …   Lithuanian dictionary (lietuvių žodynas)

  • black pepper — noun Date: before 12th century a spice that consists of the dried berry of an Indian vine ground with the black husk still on; also the plant (Piper nigrum) that yields black pepper …   New Collegiate Dictionary

  • Black pepper crab — is one of the two most popular ways that crab is served in Singapore. It is made with hard shell crabs, and cooked in a thick gravy made with black pepper. HistoryThe creation of Singapore s Black Pepper Crab is attributed to Long Beach Seafood… …   Wikipedia

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