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Long Pepper

Botanical Name(s): Piper Longum
Family Name: Piperaceae
Kingdom: Plantae
Division: Magnoliophyta
Class: Magnoliopsida
Order: Piperales
Family: Piperaceae
Genus: Piper
Species: P. longum
Popular Name(s): Indian Long Pepper, Indonesian Long Pepper, Dried Catkins, Pippali, Pipal, Tippli, Pihal, Javanese Long Pepper
Parts Used: Fruit, Root and Stem.
Habitat: Mostly deciduous to evergreen forests.

Description
Long pepper is a slender aromatic climber, with a large perennial woody root and jointed stems thickening at the nodes. The dark, dentate leaves are ovate and heart-shaped, about 2 to 3 inches in length, with broad rounded lobes at the base. The flowers are monoceous and male and female flowers are borne on different plants. The fruits are ovoid, yellowish-orange, minute, and drupe around 1 inch in diameter. The spikes are red when ripe and turn to black on drying. The plant bears flowers in rains and fruits in early winters. The herb is cultivated in Assam, Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh in India, Malaysia, Indonesia, Singapore, Sri Lanka and South Asian regions. Long pepper is also known as pipal and pipar in Hindi, hippali in Kannada, kandanthippili in Tamil, pippali rasayana, magadhi, kana and ushana in Sanskrit, pippal in Gujarati and pepe di Marisa in Italian.

Plant Chemicals
(+)- volatile oil, resin, piperine, piperlongumine, piplasterol, pipperin, pippalartin, piplartine, sylvatin, sesamin, diaeudesmin, piperlonguminine, piperlingumine, pipermonaline, piperundecalidine, brachyamide A, brachyamide B, brachystine, sterols, glycosides.

Uses & Benefits of Long Pepper