Black pepper spice is very popular in the world for decades. Black pepper is a year-round perennial vine in the family Piperaceae, and native to south India. It is now still cultivated in India and also in tropical regions as Viet Nam, Indonesia, China, Brazil.
Does black pepper spice belong to species of pepper?
Black pepper spice even the black pepper actually are not a species of pepper. They are a name to point out Piper nigrum which belongs pepper, is through the processing. The pepper (Piper nigrum) is harvested when the fruit still-green and then be dried for black pepper spice. We also have other types of pepper through processing such as green pepper from drying unripe pepper fruit and preserved in the brine and or vinegar, white pepper from drying the pepper seed only with its outer removed and red pepper from especial drying ripen or mature pepper fruit.
Black pepper and nutritive value
With a source of vitamin K, vitamin C, iron, manganese, essential nutrients, protein and dietary fiber, black pepper is used both in food (as spice) and medicine. The chemical piperine – which causes the unique spiciness of black pepper, and different nutrients make peppers to become one of the most common spices of the world’s cuisine. Meanwhile, the essence from black pepper is also used in medicinal and beauty products. Among the others peppers, the black pepper was also believed to cure constipation, insomnia, oral abscesses, sunburn and toothaches. However, the black pepper may cause the sneezing, and if overused could cause harmful to the peptic.
Pepper (Piper nigrum) – Black pepper – Black peppercorn and Ground black pepper
Pepper (Piper nigrum) could be used fresh or dry. In the dry form, it is named popularly black pepper. Black pepper is also called dried black peppercorn or peppercorn to point out whole grain after drying. And the peppercorn is ground up, and then it is called ground black pepper. These two forms of whole and ground black pepper seem more popular in calling name in using.
It is said that in producing process, black pepper could be made from unripe fruit, with or without boiling, sun-dried or dried by machine and color keeping un-need. Perhaps these are the reasons why the black pepper is the most traded spice in the world. And they are caused different ways of name that make us easily confused.
There is a value advice that the peppercorn (after drying of course) if kept in dry and tight place could be last for several months with strong flavor standstill. To get the best flavor of black pepper we should keep as peppercorn and mill it whenever we want to add to our dishes.
