Peppercorn

In Europe there has been an increased demand for green peppercorns especially for use in sauces, meats, and cheeses. 

Zanthoxylum. piperitum (L.) DC., or Japanese peppercorn, Japanese pepper tree, Sichuan pepper, hajikami, sanshou (Japanese), shu chiao, ch uan chiao, or nan chiao... 

H. Schulz, M. Baranska, R. Quilitzsch, W. Schtitze and G. Losing, Characterization of peppercorn, pepper oil, and pepper oleoresin by vibrational spectroscopy methods, J. Agric. Food Chem., 53, 3358-3363 (2005). 

Peppercorn MA (1984) Sulfasalazine - pharmacology, clinical use, toxicity, and related new drug development. Ann Intern Med 101(3) 377-386... 

Akerkar GA, Peppercorn MA, Hamel MB, Parker RA. Corticosteroid-associated complications in elderly Crohn s disease patients. Am J Gastroenterol 1997 92(3) 461 —4. 

Peppercorn MA, Goldman P. 1972. Caffeic acid metabolism by gnotobiotic rats and their intestinal bacteria. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 69 1413-1415. 

Vf cup finely sliced lemongrass /i bay leaf 12 parsley stems 1 tablespoon peppercorns... 

Black pepper (Piper nigrum) belongs to the family Piperaceae. It is cultivated for its fruit, which is usually dried and used as a spice and seasoning. The same fruit is also used to produce white pepper and green pepper. Black pepper is native to South India, where it is cultivated extensively, and also to some other tropical regions. The fruit, known as peppercorn when dried, is a small drupe, 5 mm in diameter, dark red when fully mature, containing a single seed. 

Peppercorns are, by monetary value, the most widely traded spice in the world, accounting for about 20% of all spice imports. The price of pepper can be volatile and this figure fluctuates a great deal year by year. The International Pepper Exchange is located in Kochi, India. 

Produced by steam distillation from the black peppercorns, the essential oil is water-white to pale olive in colour, with a warm, spicy (peppery), fresh aroma. It has a middle note and blends well with rose, rosemary, marjoram, frankincense, olibanum, sandalwood and lavender however, it should be used in small amounts only (Borges et al., 2003). 

The odour of pepper oil is described as fresh, dry-woody, warm-spicy and similar to that of the black peppercorn (Purseglove et al., 1981). The flavour is rather dry-wood and lacks the pungency of the spice since the alkaloids are not extracted by steam distillation. Very few studies are reported in the literature on correlation of oil composition to odour characteristics. Hasselstrom et al. (1957) attribute the characteristic odour of pepper oil to the small amounts of oxygenated constituents present. Lewis etal. (1969) consider that a number of monoterpenes present in the oil are necessary for strong... 

The sensory properties of black pepper oil obtained by steam distillation of ground peppercorns were analysed with the aid of column chromatography, high-resolution GC and GC-MS. A total of 46 compounds were identified, including (EJ-p-ocimene, 8-guaiene, (Z)(E)-farnesol, 8-cadinol and guaiol, which are reported for the first time as volatile compounds of the essential oil. Sabinene and terpinen-4-ol appeared to be the most important contributors among the volatile compounds to the characteristic odour of black pepper oil (Pino et al., 1990). 

Chinese medicine, a dried powder consisting of 1 radish 99 peppercorns is used to treat epilepsy. The effectiveness of the prescription may be due to the anticonvulsant actions of the principal component of pepper, the alkaloid piperine. 

The essential oil is extracted from steam distillation of the fully grown unripe fruit which are then dried to form the familiar black peppercorns. Black peppercorns contain higher amounts of oil and are more aromatic than the white pepper. 

EXTRACTION - STEAM DISTILLATION FROM CRUSHED BLACK PEPPERCORNS... 

Piper nigrum (black pepper) is the best known and most used species of pepper. This plant is a woody vine, mostly cultivated in plantations. Thick, glossy-green, ovate leaves grow alternately on the stem, opposite spikes of delicate flowers that grow in clusters. The berries that follow are the pungent fruit, or peppercorns. Black pepper is a perennial, and yields fruit when about three years old. It reaches full maturity, and produces a full crop, at seven to eight years old, and can continue to bear fruit for 20 years. 

Other species of peppers, such as P. longum, P. cubeba, and P. guineense, produce peppercorns that are used locally for medicinal purposes, or are made into oleoresins, essential oils, or used as an adulterant of black pepper. Berries of pepper trees from the genus Schinus, family Euphorbiaceae, are not true peppers, but are often combined with true peppercorns for their color, rather than their flavor. Schinu terebinthifolius is the source of pink peppercorns, but must be used sparingly, because they are toxic if eaten in large quantity. 

Farrell RJ, Peppercorn MA, Fine SN, Michetti P. Mesalamine-associated thrombocytopenia. Am J Gastroenterol 1999 94(8) 2304-6. 

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