View source for Long pepper

{{Short description|Species of plant cultivated for its fruit which is used as a spice}}
{{For|the Filipino chili cultivar also anglicized as "long pepper"|Siling haba}}
{{Use DMY dates|date=December 2023}}
{{Speciesbox
|image = Piper longum print.jpg
|image_caption = Long pepper's leaves and fruits
|genus = Piper
|species = longum
|authority = [[Carl Linnaeus|L.]]
}}

'''Long pepper''' ('''''Piper longum'''''),  sometimes called Indian long pepper or ''pippali'', is a [[flowering plant|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 taste similar to, but sweeter and more pungent than, that of its close relative ''[[Piper nigrum]]'' – from which black, green and white pepper are obtained.

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|hazel tree]] [[catkin]]. Like ''Piper nigrum'', the fruits contain the compound [[piperine]], which contributes to their pungency. Another species of long pepper, ''[[Piper retrofractum]]'', is native to [[Java (island)|Java]], [[Indonesia]]. The fruits of this plant are often confused with chili peppers, which belong to the genus ''[[Capsicum]]'', originally from the Americas.

==History==
[[File:Piper_longum_in_Nanning.jpg|thumb|right|Guangxi Medicinal Botanical Garden, [[Nanning]]]]
Use of long pepper occurred in [[Greece]] in the sixth or fifth century BCE, though [[Hippocrates]] discussed it as a medicament rather than a spice.<ref name="Toussaint-Samat2009">{{cite book |first=Maguelonne |last=Toussaint-Samat |translator-last=Bell |translator-first=Anthea |title=The History of Food |page=491 |edition=revised |date=2009 |orig-date=1992 |publisher=Blackwell |isbn=978-0631177418 |url= https://archive.org/details/historyoffood0000tous |url-access=registration |via=Internet Archive}}</ref> Among the Greeks and [[Ancient Rome|Romans]] and prior to the [[Columbian exchange]], long pepper was a common [[spice]].

The ancient history of long pepper is often interlinked with that of black pepper (''Piper nigrum''). [[Theophrastus]] distinguished the two in [[Historia Plantarum (Theophrastus)|his work of botany]].<ref name="Cobb2018">{{Cite journal |title=Black Pepper Consumption in the Roman Empire |journal=Journal of the Economic and Social History of the Orient |url=https://repository.uwtsd.ac.uk/id/eprint/848/ |last=Cobb |first=Matthew |issue=4 |volume=61 |pages=7–8 |via=[[University of Wales Trinity Saint David]] |doi=10.1163/15685209-12341462 |eissn=1568-5209}}</ref> The Romans knew of both but their word for pepper usually meant black pepper.{{r|"Cobb2018"|page=8}} [[Pliny the Elder|Pliny]] erroneously believed dried black pepper and long pepper came from the same plant.<ref name="Cobb2018"/>

Round, or black, pepper began to compete with long pepper in Europe from the twelfth century and had displaced it by the fourteenth.<ref name="Toussaint-Samat2009"/> The quest for cheaper and more dependable sources of black pepper fueled the [[Age of Discovery]].

After the discovery of the American continents and of [[chili pepper]], called by the Spanish ''[[pimiento]]'', employing their word for long pepper, the popularity of long pepper faded away.<ref>{{cite journal |first1=Philippe |first2=Mary |last1=Hyman |last2=Hyman |title=Connaissez-vous le poivre long? |journal=L'Histoire |volume=24 |date=June 1980}}</ref> Chili peppers, some of which, when dried, are similar in shape and taste to long pepper,{{r|"Toussaint-Samat2009"|page=492}} were easier to grow in a variety of locations more convenient to Europe. Today, long pepper is a rarity in general commerce.

===Etymology===
The word ''pepper'' itself is derived from the word for long pepper, Tamil word ''pippali''.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Rawlinson |first=H. G. |title=Intercourse Between India and the Western World: From the Earliest Times of the Fall of Rome |page=14 |isbn=9788120615496 |orig-date=1916 |date=2001 |publisher=Asian Educational Services |url= https://books.google.com/books?id=UmMnh1XKJjQC&q=pippali&pg=PA14 |via=Google Books}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Barnett |first=Lionel D. |title=Antiquities of India: An Account of the History and Culture of Ancient Hindustan |isbn=9788171564422 |date=1914 |page=14 |publisher=Atlantic Publishers & Distributors |url= https://archive.org/stream/cu31924023966322#page/n39/mode/2up/search/pippali |via=Internet Archive}}</ref> The plant itself is a native of India. The word ''pepper'' in [[Capsicum annuum|''bell pepper'']], referring to completely different plants under genus ''[[Capsicum]]'', is of the same etymology. That usage began in the 16th century.<ref name="OED1913_pepper">{{Cite book |chapter=Pepper |title=[[Oxford English Dictionary]] |date=1913 |edition=1st (corrected re-issue) |volume=7: ''N–Poy'' |at= p. [https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.99996/page/n949/mode/1up 663], definitions 1c, 2b}}</ref>

==Usage==
[[File:Pippali fruit.jpg|thumb|A pippali fruit hanging from vine]]
[[File:Piper longum.jpg|thumb|right|Dried long pepper catkins]]
[[File:Pipramol.jpg|thumb|right|Ganthoda, the root of long pepper]]
Though often used in medieval times in spice mixes like "strong powder", long pepper is today a very rare ingredient in European cuisines, but it can still be found in [[India]]n and Nepalese vegetable [[South Asian pickle|pickles]], some [[North Africa]]n spice mixtures, and in [[Indonesia]]n and [[Malaysia]]n cooking. It is readily available at Indian grocery stores, where it is usually labeled ''pippali''. Pippali is the main spice of ''[[nihari]]'', a popular meat stew from India, originating in the Indian metropolis of [[Lucknow]], and one of the national dishes of [[Pakistan]].

==See also==
*[[Piperlonguminine]]<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Kim|first1=K. S. |last2=Kim |first2=J. A. |last3=Eom |first3=S. Y. |last4=Lee |first4=S. H. |last5=Min |first5=K. R. |last6=Kim |first6=Y. |title=Inhibitory effect of piperlonguminine on melanin production in melanoma B16 cell line by downregulation of tyrosinase expression |journal=Pigment Cell Research |date=February 2006 |volume=19 |issue=1 |pages=90–8 |pmid=16420250|doi=10.1111/j.1600-0749.2005.00281.x}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |pmid=23619565 |date=2013 |last1=Lee |first1=W. |title=Barrier protective effects of piperlonguminine in LPS-induced inflammation in vitro and in vivo |journal=Food and Chemical Toxicology |volume=58 |pages=149–57 |last2=Yoo |first2=H. |last3=Kim |first3=J. A. |last4=Lee |first4=S. |last5=Jee |first5=J. G. |last6=Lee |first6=M. Y. |last7=Lee |first7=Y. M. |last8=Bae |first8=J. S. |doi=10.1016/j.fct.2013.04.027}}</ref>

==References==
{{Reflist}}

{{Herbs & spices}}
{{Transient receptor potential channel modulators}}
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[[Category:Piper (plant)]]
[[Category:Flora of the Indian subcontinent]]
[[Category:Monoamine oxidase inhibitors]]
[[Category:Spices]]
[[Category:Plants described in 1753]]
[[Category:Indian spices]]