Long pepper

Long pepper is a slender, creeping perennial vine with heart-shaped leaves, native to the forests of the Indian subcontinent. The female plant bears cylindrical catkin-like spikes 2 to 4 centimetres long and about 5 millimetres wide, which turn from green to reddish-brown or grey-black when ripe and are harvested and dried. Each spike is a tight cluster of tiny fruits embedded in a spiral, with small hard seeds inside. They smell warm and sweet like pepper and cinnamon and taste hot with a lingering tingle. Dried spikes are sold whole, sliced or ground, and the related Javanese long pepper (Piper retrofractum) is slightly thicker and used in Indonesian cooking.

Piper longum originates in northeastern India, the Himalayan foothills, Assam and the Western Ghats, and grows wild in tropical forests of India, Sri Lanka, Nepal and parts of Southeast Asia. It has been cultivated for thousands of years. The Sanskrit name pippali gave rise to the Greek peperi, the Latin piper and the English word pepper, so black pepper was named after long pepper, and the same root appears in many languages. The species name longum, meaning long, refers to the shape of the fruiting spike.

Long pepper was known in India from the Vedic era and appears in Ayurvedic texts such as the Charaka and Sushruta Samhitas, where it is a key ingredient in the formula trikatu, together with black pepper and ginger. It reached Greece by the fourth century BCE and was recorded by Theophrastus and Hippocrates. In Rome, it was among the most expensive spices, and Pliny the Elder complained that it cost about three times as much as black pepper, and wondered why anyone would want something with only pungency to recommend it.

Throughout the Roman Empire and the medieval period, long pepper was a major commodity in the spice trade by way of Arabia and Venice, and it appeared in recipes for sauces, meat dishes and spiced wines. After Portuguese traders opened the sea route to India around 1498 and chilli peppers from the Americas spread across the world in the sixteenth century, long pepper's popularity in Europe declined sharply, as black pepper and chillies were cheaper.

Today, long pepper survives in Indian and Ayurvedic practice, North African spice blends such as ras el hanout, Indonesian and Malaysian cooking, and in modern gourmet kitchens interested in historic flavours. Wild harvesting has led to concerns about overexploitation of plants in some parts of India.

Whole or ground long pepper is used in Indian pickles, curries, spice blends and chutneys, North African spice mixes, Indonesian sambals and Roman or medieval recipes. Use it like black pepper but with a sweeter, more complex heat, grated over meats, cheese, chocolate and fruit, or simmered in stews, spiced wine and syrups. Powdered fruit is mixed with honey in Ayurvedic preparations for cough, and the root, called pippalimul, is used in other formulas. It also appears in some pickling blends and flavoured liquors.

Long pepper contains piperine and related amides, along with essential oils. In Ayurveda it is used for respiratory and digestive complaints and as a bioenhancer to increase the absorption of other herbs. Laboratory and animal studies report anti-inflammatory and antioxidant effects, and piperine is known to enhance absorption of several compounds. Human clinical evidence for long pepper itself is limited, so traditional claims remain unproven. As a spice in food, small amounts are common and generally well tolerated.