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PIPERACEAE

Over 2000 species in four genera are found in tropical regions.

[Summary yet to be added]

Piper

2000 species are found in tropical regions.

Piper angustifolium

Matico

The powdered leaves are said to stop the bleeding of wounds. Preparations of the leaves, which are astringent, have also been recommended for treating haemorrhoids (Wren 1975).

Oil of matico is derived from the plant.

Piper bantamense

This and some other Piper spp. are rubefacient and are used as counter-irritants (Burkill 1935).

Piper betle

Betel Pepper

The leaf is chewed with the betel nut (Areca).

Piper cubebs

Java Pepper, Cubebs

The dried unripe fruit forms the condiment, cubebs. Oil of cubeb derived from the plant is used in cosmetics (Greenberg and Lester 1954).

Piper guineense Schumach. & Thonn.

West African Black Pepper, Ashanti Pepper

The berries were brought from Liberia to Europe in the 14th and 15th centuries but they do not appear to have been accepted as a substitute for Piper nigrum L., a pepper which is more aromatic (Dalziel 1937). The dried black berries (Dalziel 1937) and the seeds (Irvine 1961) are used for counter-irritant purposes.

Piper methysticum G. Forst.

Kawa, Yangona

The powdered root of this plant, prepared so as to form a beverage, is drunk on festive occasions among the Polynesians and Fijians. Over-indulgence induces a state of exhilaration with loss of power in the legs. Chronic addiction induces a marked coarsening and roughening of the skin, with wasting and debility (Cilento 1944).

Piper nigrum L.

Pepper

To obtain black pepper, the berries are picked before they are fully ripe; they turn black and shrivel when dried. To obtain white pepper, the berries are allowed to ripen before harvesting and the outer shell is removed leaving a greyish-white kernel (Collins 1969).

The fruit has a rubefacient effect (Watt & Breyer-Brandwijk 1962) and is irritant to the nose and eyes (Burkill 1935). Ground pepper applied to the skin causes severe pain and redness and sometimes vesication (White 1887). Dilute "white pepper oil" was observed to produce three positive patch test reactions in 406 persons investigated for hand eczema (Agrup 1969).

References

• Agrup, G. (1969) Hand eczema and other hand dermatoses in South Sweden. Acta Derm.-Vener. 49(Suppl. 61): 1-91.
• Burkill, I.H. (1935) A Dictionary of the Economic Products of the Malay Peninsula. 2 vols. London. Crown Agents for the Colonies.
• Cilento, R. (1944) Some Poisonous Plants, Sea and Land Animals of Australia and New Guinea. Brisbane. W.R. Smith and Patterson Pty. Ltd
• Collins, M. (1969) Spices of the World Cook Book. Baltimore, Maryland. McCormick.
• Dalziel, J.M. (1937) The Useful Plants of West Tropical Africa. London. Crown Agents.
• Greenberg, L.A. and Lester, D. (1954) Handbook of Cosmetic Materials. New York. Interscience.
• Irvine FR (1961) Woody Plants of Ghana. With special reference to their uses. London: Oxford University Press [WorldCat] [url] [url-2]
• Watt JM and Breyer-Brandwijk MG (1962) The Medicinal and Poisonous Plants of Southern and Eastern Africa. Being an account of their medicinal and other uses, chemical composition, pharmacological effects and toxicology in man and animal, 2nd edn. Edinburgh: E & S Livingstone Ltd.
• White, J.C. (1887) Dermatitis Venenata: An Account of the Action of External Irritants upon the Skin. Boston. Cupples and Hurd.
• Wren RC (1975) Potter's New Cyclopaedia of Botanical Drugs and Preparations (re-edited and enlarged by Wren RW). Bradford, Devon: Health Science Press

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