Abstract

PHARMACOGNOSTIC STANDARDISATION OF MEDICINALLY IMPORTANT “LONG PEPPER” (PIPPALI)

*Dr. Varun Arora, Dr. Pragi Arora, Manjinder Pal Singh, Lakhwinder Kaur

ABSTRACT

Long Pepper, Pippali, is a flowering vine in the family Piperaceae, cultivated for its fruit, which is usually dried and used as a spice and seasoning. Long Pepper has a similar, but hotter, taste to its close relative Piper nigrum - from which black, green and white pepper are obtained. The word pepper itself is derived from the Tamil, Malayalam word for Long Pepper, Pippali. The fruit of the pepper consists of many minuscule fruits — each about the size of a poppy seed, embedded in the surface of a flower spike that closely resembles a hazel tree catkin. The fruits contain the alkaloid piperine, which contributes to their pungency. It is a native of North East India. Globally the species is distributed in the Indo-Malaysian region and Sri-Lanka. Within India its presence is reported from the lower hills of Central to Eastern Himalayas as well as Western Ghats of Kerala and Tamil Nadu. This species is probably native to North East India, globally distributed in Indo- Malaysia. Within India, it is found in the hotter parts of India, from Central Himalayas to Assam, Meghalaya, Bengal, evergreen forests along the Western Ghats and Car Nicobar Islands.

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