What justification was used to purchase pepper?
By Chelsie Vandaveer
May 6, 2002
killerPlants Tendrils: ~~1~~2~~3~~4~~5~~
Suggested Reading: Click here.
The black pepper vine (Piper nigrum Linnaeus) [pi' per ni' grum] is native to the Malabar coast of India. The small white flowers are borne on drooping racemes. The fruit, peppercorns, are drupes, single-seeded like an olive or cherry.
For black pepper, the peppercorns are harvested green and sun-dried before grinding. Ripe or red peppercorns undergo soaking to remove the pericarp (husk) before grinding for white pepper.
Apparently, the color of the peppercorns was a source of conjecture with herbalists. Gerard's The Herbal (1633) states, "The Plant that brings white Pepper is not to be distinguished from the other plant, but only by the colour of the fruit...and of some it is thought, that the self same plant doth sometime change it self from black to white...."
Pepper was an expensive commodity; its use to season food was justified as it was considered medicinal. Of the virtues of pepper, Gerard cites older herbalists, "Dioscorides and others agreeing with him, affirm, that Pepper resisteth poison (general antidote), and is good to be put in medicaments for the eyes.
"All Pepper heateth (a rubifacient applied to the skin to bring redness and warmth), provoketh urine (a diuretic), digesteth, draweth, disperseth (a carminative to aid digestion and reduce flatulence), and cleanseth the dimness of the sight...."
Considering that pepper contains piperine (an alkaloid), volatile oils, and a pungent resin, one would assume that when the patient's eyes ceased watering, sight would seem miraculously restored.
Raintree has posted a photograph of Piper nigrum bearing unripe peppercorns. To view the photograph, click on the link:
http://www.rain-tree.com/Plant-Images/piper-pic.htm
killerPlants Tendrils: ~~1~~2~~3~~4~~5~~
Suggested Reading:
What was the Pepper Gate? Plants that Changed History - May 21, 2002
What is poorman's pepper? What's in a Name? - October 25, 2002
What was Alboquerque's reward? Plants that Changed History - December 16, 2003
What American city was traded for sugar and spice? Plants that Changed History - Jan 20, 2004
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