Ceylon-Black-Pepper

Black pepper (Piper nigrum Linn.) is the world’s most common spice and known as the “King of Spices.” The word “pepper” is derived from the Sanskrit pippali, the word for long pepper, via the Latin piper, which was used by the Romans to refer both to pepper and long pepper (as the Romans erroneously believed that both of these spices were derived from the same plant). The English word for pepper is derived from the Old English “pipor.” The Latin word is also the source of German pfeffer, French poivre, Dutch peper, and other similar forms. “Pepper” was used in a figurative sense to mean “spirit” or “energy” at least as far back as the 1840s; in the early 20th century, this was shortened to pep. Pepper is a perennial vine and a native of South India. In its dried form, the fruit is often referred to as peppercorns. Peppercorns, and the powdered pepper derived from grinding them, may be described as black pepper, white pepper, red/pink pepper, and green pepper. The sole use of black pepper is in the seasoning of food owing to its aroma and pungency. In traditional medicines, this spice is also reported to have digestive power, to improve appetite, and to cure cold, cough, dyspnea, diseases of the throat, intermittent fever, colic, dysentery, worms and piles.
The uses of black pepper in traditional medicine as an antipyretic and anti-inflammatory are supported by modern science.2,3 In folk medicine, black pepper is also used against epilepsy and snake bite.4 The 5th century Syriac Book of Medicines prescribes pepper (or perhaps long pepper) for such illnesses as constipation, diarrhea, earache, gangrene, heart disease, hernia, hoarseness, indigestion, insect bites, insomnia, joint pain, liver problems, lung disease, oral abscesses, sunburn, tooth decay, and toothaches. Pepper root, in the form of ghees, powders, enemas and balms, is a folk remedy for abdominal tumors. Chinese use the spice for urinary calculus. An electuary prepared from the seed is said to help hard tumors, while a salve prepared from the seed is said to help eye indurations and internal tumors.