White Pepper
Scientific name: Piper guineense
Common names: White pepper, Guinea cubebs
Local names: Soro wusa, Sesaa, (Ewe)-Atsinkali
Family name: Piperaceae
Description: A climber up to 12m high on tress, climbing by means of adventitious rootlets etc.
Habitat: It occurs in closed forests on trees in forest
clearings.
Parts used: seeds, leaf, twig.
Chemical constituents: Volatile oil; alkaloids: piperine, wisanine dihydrowisanine, dihydropiperine and related alkaloids; resin, lignans-dihydrocubebin, sesamin, aschantin.
Uses: for the treatment of coughs, bronchitis and rheumatism; the powdered drug is insect repellant and insecticidal; fruit as spice. Antiviral used in confectionery.
NB: There are two varieties. The one collected from the wild is Piper guineense while the cultivated type is Piper nigrum which is accepted mostly in the international market as spice.
Reviews
There are no reviews yet.