Piperaceae families

Piper methysticum is a member of the pepper or Piperaceae family, order Piperales, class Dicotyledonae. The pepper family includes more than 2,000 species of herbs, shrubs, small trees, and woody climbers distributed throughout the tropics (Heywood, 1978). The leaves of Piperaceae usually are alternate, entire, and petiolate, with the flowers uniformly small and grouped on a dense spike. 

In vitro antioxidant activity was also evaluated in Piper regnellii, another plant from the Piperaceae family commonly used as it were P. umbellata. The activity of the extracts was evaluated in spontaneous lipid peroxidation of brain homogenates, and both TBARS and chemiluminescence were employed as parameters for lipid peroxidation evaluation. Although P. regnellii showed some antioxidant capacity, this was below that of P. umbellata, probably due to the absence of 4-nerolidylcatechol in the former. 

The distinctive feature from alkamides isolated from Piperaceae family is the presence of an aromatic ring, commonly a 3,4-methylenedioxyphenyl group (although p-methoxyphenyl and 3,4,5-trimethoxyphenyl have also been found) linked to the end of an unsaturated C3-C16 fatty acid chain [20]. The amine group commonly found is an A-isobutyl, pyrrolidinyl, or piperidinyl group. Fig. 4 [21-23]. 

Alkamides are alkaloids of restricted distribution in plants. Although they have been isolated in more than 35 family plants, their presence is usually limited to obtain the individual alkamides in only a few milligrams. However, they are the most abundant components in Asteraceae, Solanaceae, Rutaceae, and Piperaceae families. Even within these four families, their presence is restricted to a few genera included within Anthemideae and Heliantheae tribes in Asteraceae, Capsicum in Solanaceae, Zanthoxylum and Glycosmis in Rutaceae, and Piper in Piperaceae. Stmcturally, alkamides possess an acidic and an amino moieties. Both acidic and amino moieties are characteristic depending on the plant family. 

Jose, J. and Sharma, A. K. 1985. Structure and behaviour of chromosomes in Piper and Pepero-mia (family Piperaceae). Cytologia 50 301-310. 

The members of the plant family Piperaceae are well known in traditional pharmacology in Asia and Africa as medicines and insecticides. Piper nigrum L. (Piperaceae, black pepper) has traditionally been used as a... 

Among many others, well-known families rich in essential oil bearing species are Apiaceae, Asteraceae, Cupressaceae, Hypericaceae, Lamiaceae, Lauraceae, Myrtaceae, Pinaceae, Piperaceae, Rutaceae, Santalaceae, Zingiberaceae and Zy-gophyllaceae [1-4, 8-11, 39]. 

KAVA KAVA -- Piper methysticum. Family Piperaceae (Pepper family). 

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. 

Cepharadione-A and -B have also been found in Piper auritum, an example of the rare occurrence of isoquinoline alkaloids in the family Piperaceae. A new dioxoaporphine is norcepharadione-B (46), isolated from the callus tissue of Stephania cepharantha. ... 

Vandopsis longicaulis Certain tumour-inhibitory plants of the Piperaceae and Rhizophoraceae families have yielded amides, e.g. A -dibydropiperine (9) occurs in Piper novae-hollandiae Miq. Macrocyclic alkaloids, e.g. azimine (10), have been fully defined. Further evidence for the nature of Lythrum bases has been obtained by synthesis of the overall skeleton. The key step in the synthesis involved formation of the 17-membered ring (11) (12). Directions for the isolation and degradation of piperine (9, with y,5-double bond) have been included in a unique laboratory text. ... 

Polyenamides from Compositae, Piperaceae and Rutaceae families... 

Plants of the Compositae, Piperaceae and Rutaceae families [2] have been used as ingredients in many medicinal preparations and as food spices and many of them are used as insecticides [6]. Several long-chain unsaturated amides have been isolated from these plants, and they can be classified into two main structural types (a) (2 , 4 )-dienamides derived from straight-chain fatty acids and isobutylamine, pyrrolidine or piperidine units (1-22) (Chart 1), and (b) amides with the piperonal unit derived mainly from piperic acid in combination with the above mentioned amines (23-34) (Chart 2). 

ABSTRACT An extensive compilation of structures of unsaturated amide products from Piper species (Piperaceae) with relevant literature references, and including a few representative examples of related compounds from other families, is presented. The biological activity attributed to Piper species, and many of the unsaturated amides they produce, includes organoleptic, medicinal and insecticidal effects and some of the more interesting biological properties are discussed in this chapter. Numerous synthetic approaches to the unsaturated amides have been developed, and a representative sampling of these strategies is presented. 

Piperaceae do not have a monopoly on the production of unsaturated amides, and although the present article focuses primarily on compounds produced by members of this family, some representatives of the class from families such as Compositae and Rutaceae are also included in the Tables, as are some obviously related saturated compounds. 

Liang, H.-X. and Tucker, S. C. (1995). Floral ontogeny of Zippelia begoniaefolia and its familial affinity Saurmaceae or Piperaceae American Journal of Botany, 82,681-689. 

Isobutylamides are a subclass of alkamides based on the amine group 2-methylpropyl. They first aroused the interest of researchers for their insecticidal activities, being toxic to numerous classes of insects including the ubiquitous housefly and mosquito. Upon further investigation, it was obvious the most active insecticidal compounds were the ones that produced the most potent sialagogue (stimulating saliva flow) effects in humans (Brinker 1991/92). Isobutylamides so far investigated are derived from four plant families—Asteracea, Rutaceae, Piperaceae and Aristolochiaceae (see Table 8.3). 

Seeds and frnits of the families Apiaceae, Piperaceae, and Myristicaceae usually require grinding np prior to steam distillation. In many cases, the seed has to be dried before comminution takes place. Celery, coriander, dill, ambrette, fennel, and anise belong to the Apiaceae. All varieties of pepper belong to the Piperaceae while nutmeg belongs to the Myristicaceae. The finer the material... 

Chalcones were originally discovered in plants as the yellow flower pigments of Coreopsis and other yellow-rayed Compositae. After that, they have subsequently been found in other plant families including Solanaceae, Anacardiaceae, Caesalpiniaceae, Piperaceae, and Apiaceae. 6 -Deoxychalcones were known to be chemical constituents of leguminous plants, but it is scarcely reported that they were found in other plant species. A lot of chalcones were isolated from either Compositae (Asteraceae) or Leguminosae (Fabaceae), two families well known to accumulate these. Besides, various prenylchalcones can be found in hop plants (Cannabaceae). 

Black pepper (Piper nigrum) — the dried berries of the plant belonging to the family Piperaceae - is one of the most widely used among spices, valued for its distinct biting quality. Black pepper has been used as a spice in India since prehistoric times it is known to Indian cooking since at least 2000 BC [1]. Black pepper is produced from the green unripe berries of the pepper plant by briefly cooking in hot water [2]. White pepper which is commonly found in Western countries is produced... 

Occurrence in Non-solanaceous/Non-convoIvnIaceous Taxa. Pyrrolidine amides in the plant kingdom are mainly restricted to the Asteraceae (e.g., Greger 1984 Greger et al. 1987) and the Piperaceae (e.g., Singh et al. 1971), two unrelated families. However, most of the compounds detected there show olefinic or acetylenic acyl moieties whereas the metabolites found in the Solanales are characterized by saturated acyl moieties. 

The survey revealed the following new families as having probable CAM Cucurbitaceae (Fig. 1.27), Didieraceae (Fig. 1.28), Labiatae, Oxalidaceae, Piperaceae, and Portulacaceae (Fig. 1.29). In addition, within the previously reported Gerani-aceae. Pelargonium ceratophyllum was shown to have a diurnal fluctuation of acidity. These new data are summarized in Table 1.2. 

Altholactone (56), found in the bark of unnamed Polyalthia (Annonaceae), has a unique tetrahydrofuro-pyrone structure (69). This compound is bioge-netically related to a number of a-pyrones with aromatic substituents, found in families of Lauraceae, Annonaceae, or Piperaceae. It can reasonably be regarded as an oxygenated and cyclized derivative of goniothalamin (57), distributed in several species of Goniothalamus (Annonaceae) (56, 69). 

Source Piper cubeba L. f. (syn. Cubeba officinalis Miq.) (Family Piperaceae). 

Table 1.3 (Section 1.2.3.2) shows a selection of plant families and genera which provide additives for curare. While representatives of some genera, e.g. Guatteria and Xylopia (Annonaceae), Tabernaemontana (Apocynaceae), or Ficus (Moraceae) may yield mucilage or latex which can act as an adhesive, and others, e.g. Capsicum (Solanaceae) or Piper (Piperaceae), may promote absorption of the poison in the body, i.e. increase the bio-availability of the active principles, there are also some, like Hippomane or Hura (Euphor-biaceae), which may fulfill both functions. But for most of the additives indicated, it is not clear what contribution they could make to the final poison. For example, Diejfenbachia (Araceae), dumbcane, although known to be a dangerous plant in the fresh state, is unlikely to augment the toxicity of the...

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