_Piper nigrum_; _Black Pepper_; F. _Poivre noir_; G. _Schwarzer
Pfeffer_.
=Botanical Origin=—_Piper nigrum_ L.—The pepper plant is a perennial
climbing shrub, with jointed stems branching dichotomously, and broadly
ovate, 5-to 7-nerved, stalked leaves. The slender flower-spikes are
opposite the leaves, stalked, and from 3 to 6 inches long; and the
fruits are sessile and fleshy.
_Piper nigrum_ is indigenous to the forests of Travancore and Malabar,
whence it has been introduced into Sumatra, Java, Borneo, the Malay
Peninsula, Siam, the Philippines and the West Indies.
=History=—Pepper[2144] is one of the spices earliest used by mankind,
and although now a commodity of but small importance in comparison with
sugar, coffee, and cotton, it was for many ages the staple article
of trade between Europe and India. It would require in fact a volume
to give a full idea of the prominent importance of pepper during the
middle ages.
In the 4th century B.C., Theophrastus noticed the existence of two
kinds of pepper (πέπερι), probably the _Black Pepper_ and _Long Pepper_
of modern times. Dioscorides stated pepper to be a production of
India, and was acquainted with _White Pepper_ (λευκὸν πέπερι). Pliny’s
information on the same subject is curious; he tells us that in his
time a pound of long pepper was worth 15, of white 7, and of black
pepper 4 _denarii_; and expresses his astonishment that mankind should
so highly esteem pepper, which was neither a sweet taste nor attractive
appearance, or any desirable quality besides a certain pungency.
[2142] Hanbury, _Science Papers_, 73.
[2143] Some information will be met with in Capt. Hunter’s _Account of
Aden_, 1877. p. 107. In 1875-1876 there were exported from Aden 42,975
lb. of Waras.
[2144] The word _pepper_, which with slight varieties has passed into
almost all languages, comes from the Sanskrit name for _Long Pepper_,
_pippali_, the change of the _l_ into _r_ having been made by the
Persians, in whose ancient language the _l_ is wanting.
In the Periplus of the Erythrean Sea, written about A.D. 64, it is
stated that pepper is exported from Baraké, the shipping place of
Nelkunda, in which region, and there only, it grows in great quantity.
These have been identified with places on the Malabar Coast between
Mangalore and Calicut.[2145]
Long pepper and Black pepper are among the Indian spices on which the
Romans levied duty at Alexandria about A.D. 176.[2146]
Cosmas Indicopleustes,[2147] a merchant, and in later life a monk,
who wrote about A.D. 540, appears to have visited the Malabar Coast,
or at all events had some information about the pepper plant from an
eye-witness. It is he who furnishes the first particulars about it,
stating that it is a climbing plant, sticking close to high trees like
a vine. Its native country he calls _Male_.[2148] The Arabian authors
of the middle ages, as Ibn Khurdádbah (_circa_ A.D. 869-885), Edrisi in
the middle of the 12th, and Ibn Batuta in the 14th century, furnished
nearly similar accounts.
Among Europeans who described the pepper plant with some exactness,
one of the first was Benjamin of Tudela, who visited the Malabar Coast
in A.D. 1166. Another was the Catalan friar, Jordanus,[2149] about
1330; he described the plant as something like ivy, climbing trees and
forming fruit, like that of the wild vine. “This fruit,” he says, “is
at first green, then, when it comes to maturity, black.” Nearly the
same statements are repeated by Nicolo Conti, a Venetian, who at the
beginning of the 15th century, spent twenty-five years in the East.
He observed the plant in Sumatra, and also described it as resembling
ivy.[2150]
In Europe, pepper during the middle ages was the most esteemed and
important of all spices, and the very symbol of the spice trade, to
which Venice,[2151] Genoa, and the commercial cities of Central Europe
were indebted for a large part of their wealth; and its importance as a
means of promoting commercial activity during the middle ages, and the
civilizing intercourse of nation with nation, can scarcely be overrated.
[2145] Vincent, _Commerce and Navigation of the Ancients_, ii. (1807)
458.
[2146] Vincent, _op. cit._ ii. 754; also Meyer, _Geschichte der
Botanik_, ii. (1865) 167.
[2147] Migne, _Patrologiæ Cursus_, series Græca, lxxxviii. (1860) 443.
446.
[2148] _Bar_ (as in _Malabar_) merely signifies in Arabic, _coast_.
[2149] _Mirabilia descripta_ by Friar Jordanus, translated by Col.
Yule. London, Hakluyt Society, 1863. 27.
[2150] “Piperis arbor persimilis est ederæ, grana ejus viridia
ad formam grani juniperi, quæ modico cinere aspersa torrentur ad
solem.”—Kunstmann, _Kenntniss Indiens im xv. Jahrhundert_, München
(1863) 40.
[2151] In the beginning of the 15th century the great emporium of
the trade in pepper appears to have been the vicinity of the Church
S. Giacomo de Rialto at Venice. In the “capitolare dei Visdomini del
fontego dei Todeschi (German court) in Venezia,” edit. of Thomas,
Berlin, 1874, the chapter 228, page 116, is devoted to “_La mercadantia
del pevere_.”
Tribute was levied in pepper,[2152] and donations were made of this
spice, which was often used as a medium of exchange when money was
scarce. During the siege of Rome by Alaric, king of the Goths, A.D.
408, the ransom demanded from the city included among other things
5000 pounds of gold, 30,000 pounds of silver, and 3000 pounds of
_pepper_.[2153] After the conquest of Cæsarea in Palestine, A.D. 1101,
by the Genoese, each of them received two pounds of pepper and 48 soldi
for his part of the booty.[2154] Facts of this nature, of which a great
number might be enumerated, sufficiently illustrate the part played by
this spice in mediæval times.
The general prevalence during the middle ages of _pepper-rents_, which
consisted in an obligation imposed upon a tenant to supply his lord
with a certain quantity of pepper, generally a pound, at stated times,
shows how acceptable was this favourite condiment, and how great the
desire of the wealthier classes to secure a supply of it when the
market was not always certain.[2155]
The earliest reference to a trade in pepper in England that we have met
with, is in the Statutes of Ethelred, A.D. 978-1016,[2156] where it is
enacted that the Easterlings coming with their ships to Billingsgate
should pay at Christmas and Easter for the privilege of trading with
London, a small tribute of cloth, five pairs of gloves, _ten pounds of
pepper_,[2157] and two barrels of vinegar.
The merchants who trafficked in spices were called _Piperarii_,—in
English _Pepperers_, in French _Poivriers_ or _Pebriers_. As a
fraternity or guild, they are mentioned as existing in London in
the Reign of Henry II. (A.D. 1154-1189). They were subsequently
incorporated as the Grocers’ Company, and had the oversight and control
of the trade in spices, drugs, dye-stuffs, and even metals.[2158]
The price of pepper during the middle ages was always exorbitantly
high, for the rulers of Egypt extorted a large revenue from all those
who were engaged in the trade in it and other spices.[2159] Thus
in England between A.D. 1263 and 1399, it averaged 1_s._ per lb.,
equivalent to about 8_s._ of our present money. It was however about
2_s._ per lb. (= 16_s._) between 1350 and 1360.[2160] In 1370 we find
pepper in France valued 7 sous 6 deniers per lb. (= fr. 21. c. 30):—in
1542 at a price equal to fr. 11 per lb.[2161]
The high cost of this important condiment contributed to incite the
Portuguese to seek for a sea-passage to India. It was some time after
the discovery of this passage (A.D. 1498) that the price of pepper
first experienced a considerable fall; while about the same period the
cultivation of the plant was extended to the western islands of the
Malay Archipelago. The trade in pepper continued to be a monopoly of
the Crown of Portugal as late as the 18th century.
[2152] For some examples of this, see _Histoire de la vie privée des
Français_, par le Grand d’Aussy, nouvelle éd., ii. (1815) 182.
[2153] Zosimus, _Historia_ (Lips. 1784) lib. v. c. 41.
[2154] Belgrano, _Vita privata dei Genovesi_ 1875. 152.
[2155] Rogers, _Agriculture and Prices in England_, i. (1866) 626.
The term _peppercorn rent_, which has survived to our times, now only
signifies a nominal payment.
[2156] _Ancient Laws and Institutes of England_, published by the
Record Commission, i. (1840) 301.
[2157] A striking contrast to the announcement in a commercial paper,
27 _Feb._ 1874, that the stock of pepper in the public warehouses of
London the previous week was 6035 tons!
[2158] Herbert, _Hist. of the twelve great Livery Companies of London_,
Lond. 1834. 303, 310.
[2159] Reinaud, _Nouveau Journal asiatique_, 1829, Juillet, 22-51.
[2160] Rogers, _op. cit._ i. 641.
[2161] Leber, _Appréciation de la fortune privée au moyen-âge, éd._ 2,
Paris, 1847. 95, 305.
The Venetians used every effort to retain the valued traffic in their
own hands, but in vain; and it was a fact of general interest when on
the 21st of January 1522 a Portuguese ship brought for the first time
the spices of India direct to the city of Antwerp. Strange to say, they
were received with great mistrust!
Pepper was heavily taxed in England. In 1623 the imposts levied on it
amounted to 5_s._ per lb.; and even down to 1823 it was subject to a
duty of 2_s._ 6_d._ per lb.
=Production=—In the south-west of India, the plant, or _Pepper Vine_
as it is called, grows on the sides of the narrow valleys where the
soil is rich and moist, producing lofty trees by which a constant,
favourable coolness is maintained. In such places the pepper-vine runs
along the ground and propagates itself by striking out roots into the
soil. The natives tie up the end of the vines lying on the ground to
the nearest tree, on the bark of which the stems put out roots so far
as they have been tied, the shoots above that hanging down. The plant
is capable of growing to a height of 20 or 30 feet, but for the sake
of convenience it is usually kept low, and is often trained on poles.
In places where no vines occur naturally, the plant is propagated by
planting slips near the roots of the trees on which it is to climb.
The pepper plants if grown on a rich soil begin to bear even in the
first year, and continue to increase in productiveness till about the
fifth, when they yield 8 to 10 lb. of berries per plant, which is about
the average produce up to the age of 15 to 20 years; after this they
begin to decline.
When one or two berries at the base of the spike begin to turn red, the
whole spike is pinched off. Next day the berries are rubbed off with
the hands and picked clean; then dried for three days on mats, or on
smooth hard ground, or on bamboo baskets near a gentle fire.
In Malabar the pepper-vine flowers in May and June, and the fruits
become fit for gathering at the commencement of the following
year.[2162]
The largest quantities of pepper are produced in the island of Rhio,
near Singapore, in Djohor (in the south-eastern coast of the Malayan
Peninsula), and in Penang. The latter island affords on an average
about one-half of the total crop.
=Description=—The small, round, berry-like fruits grow somewhat loosely
to the number of 20 to 30, on a common pendulous fruit-stalk. They are
at first green, then become red, and if allowed to ripen, yellow; but
they are gathered before complete maturity, and by drying in that state
turn blackish grey or brown. If left until quite ripe they lose some of
their pungency, and gradually fall off.
The berries after drying are spherical, about ⅕ inch in diameter,
wrinkled on the surface, indistinctly pointed below by the remains of
the very short pedicel, and crowned still more indistinctly by the 3-or
4-lobed stigma. The thin pericarp tightly encloses a single seed, the
embryo of which in consequence of premature gathering is undeveloped,
and merely replaced by a cavity situated below the apex. The seed
itself contains within the thin red-brown testa a shining albumen, grey
and horny without, and mealy within. The pungent taste and peculiar
smell of pepper are familiar to all.
[2162] For a full account of the cultivation of pepper, see Buchanan,
_Journey from Madras through Mysore, Canara, and Malabar_, ii. (1807)
455-520; iii. 158.
=Microscopic Structure=—The transverse section of a grain of black
pepper exhibits a soft yellowish epidermis, covering the outer
pericarp. This is formed of a closely-packed yellow layer of large,
mostly radially arranged, thick-walled cells, each containing in its
small cavity a mass of dark brown resin. The middle layer of the
pericarp consists of soft, tangentially-extended parenchyme, containing
an abundance of extremely small starch granules and drops of oil. The
shrinking of this loose middle layer is the chief cause of the deep
wrinkles on the surface of the berry. The next inner layer of the
pericarp exhibits towards its circumference tangentially-arranged,
soft parenchyme, the cells of which possess either spiral striation or
spiral fibres, but towards the interior loose parenchyme, free from
starch, and containing very large oil-cells.
The testa is formed in the first place of a row of small yellow
thick-walled cells. Next to them follows the true testa, as a dense,
dark brown layer of lignified cells, the individual outlines of which
are undistinguishable.
The albumen of the seeds consists of angular, radially-arranged,
large-celled parenchyme. Most of its cells are colourless and loaded
with starch; others contain a soft yellow amorphous mass. If thin
slices are kept under glycerin for some time, these masses are slowly
transformed into needle-shaped crystals of piperin.
=Chemical Composition=—Pepper contains resin and essential oil, to the
former of which its sharp pungent taste is due. The essential oil has
more of the smell than of the taste of pepper.[2163] The drug yields
from 1·6 to 2·2 per cent. of this volatile oil, which agrees with oil
of turpentine in composition as well as in specific gravity and boiling
point. We find it, in a column 50 mm. long, to deviate the ray of
polarized light 1°·2 to 3°·4 to the left.
The most interesting constituent of pepper, _Piperin_, which pepper
yields to the extent of 2 to 8 per cent., agrees in composition with
the formula C₁₇H₁₉NO₃, like morphine. Piperin has no action on litmus
paper; it is not capable of combining directly with an acid, yet unites
with hydrochloric acid in the presence of mercuric and other metallic
chlorides, forming crystallizable compounds. It is insoluble in water;
when perfectly pure, its crystals are devoid of colour, taste and
smell. Its alcoholic solution is without action on polarized light.
Piperin may be resolved, as found by Anderson in 1850, into _Piperic
Acid_, C₁₂H₁₀O₄, and _Piperidine_, C₅H₁₁N. The latter is a liquid
colourless alkaloid, boiling at 106° C., having the odour of pepper and
ammonia, and directly yielding crystallizable salts.
Besides these constituents, pepper also contains some fatty oil in the
mesocarp. Of inorganic matter, it yields upon incineration from 4·1 to
5·7 per cent.
=Commerce=—Singapore is the great emporium for pepper, of which 197,478
peculs (26⅓ million lb.) were imported there in 1877. The largest part
of it finds its way to England. The import of pepper into the United
Kingdom during 1872, was 27,576,710 lb. valued at £753,970. Of this
quantity, the Straits Settlements supplied 25,000,000 lb., and British
India 256,000 lb. Of the quantity of 25,917,070 lb., imported in 1876
into Great Britain, the home consumption was 9 million lb.
[2163] As noticed by Rheede in 1688: “ ... oleum ex pipere destillatum
levem piperis odorem spirans, saporis parum acris.”—_Hort. Malab._
vii. 24.—The oil was however obtained long before by Valerius Cordus,
Guintherus Andernacensis and Porta (see our article Cortex Cinnamomi,
page 526).
The exports of pepper from the United Kingdom in 1872 amounted to
17,891,620 lb., the largest quantity being taken by Germany (5,201,574
lb.) Then follows Italy (2,288,647 lb.); and Russia, Holland and Spain,
each of which took more than a million pounds.[2164]
The varieties of pepper quoted in price-currents are _Malabar_,
_Aleppee and Cochin_, _Penang_, _Singapore_, _Siam_.
A large quantity is also shipped from Singapore to China, the imports
of that country in 1877 of both black and white pepper, being 53,844
peculs (7,179,200 lb.)
=Uses=—Pepper is not of much importance as a medicine, and is rarely if
ever prescribed, except indirectly as an ingredient of some preparation.
=Adulteration=—Whole pepper is not, we believe, liable in Europe to
adulteration;[2165] but the case is widely different as regards the
pulverized spice. Notwithstanding the enormous penalty of £100, to
which the manufacturer, possessor, or seller of adulterated pepper
is liable,[2166] and the low cost of the article, ground pepper has
hitherto been frequently sophisticated by the addition of the starches
of cereals and potatoes, of sago, mustard husks, linseed and capsicum.
The admixture of these substances may for the most part be readily
detected, after some practice, by the microscope.[2167]
White Pepper.
This form of the spice is prepared from black pepper by removing its
dark outer layer of pericarp, and thereby depriving it of a portion of
its pungency. It is mentioned by Dioscorides, yet was evidently very
little known in Europe even during the middle ages. In the time of
Platearius,[2168] white pepper was supposed to be derived from a plant
different from Piper nigrum.
Buchanan,[2169] referring to Travancore, remarks that white pepper is
made by allowing the berries to ripen; the bunches are then gathered,
and having been kept for three days in the house, are washed and
bruised in a basket with the hand till all the stalks and pulp are
removed.
The finest white pepper is obtained from Tellicherry, on the Malabar
Coast, but only in small quantity. The more important places for its
preparation are the Straits Settlements, chiefly Rhio. The export of
white pepper from Singapore in 1877 was 48,460 peculs. Most of the
spice finds its way to China, where it is highly esteemed. In Europe,
pepper in its natural state is with good reason preferred.
[2164] _Annual Statement of the Trade of the U.K. for 1872._ 59., 125.
[2165] According to Moodeen Sheriff (_Suppl. to Pharm. of India_,
134) the berries of _Embelia_ (Samara) _Ribes_, order _Myrsineæ_, are
said to be sometimes used for adulterating black pepper in the Indian
bazaars.
[2166] By the 59 George III. c. 53 § 22 (1819).
[2167] Consult, Hassall, _Food and its Adulterations_, Lond. 1855. 42;
Evans, _Pharm. Journ._ i. (1860) 605.
[2168] _Glossæ in antidotarium Nicolai._, ccxlvi. verso.
[2169] In the work quoted, page 579, ii. 465, 533, and iii. 224.
The grains of white pepper are of rather larger size than those of
black, and of a warm greyish tint. They are nearly spherical or a
little flattened. At the base the skin of the fruit is thickened into
a blunt prominence, whence about 12 light stripes run meridian-like
towards the depressed summit. If the skin is scraped off, the dark
brown testa is seen enclosing the hard translucent albumen. In
anatomical structure, as well as in taste and smell, white pepper
agrees with black, which in fact it represents in a rather more
fully-grown state.
White pepper appears to afford on an average not more than 1·9 per
cent. of essential oil, but to be richer in piperin, of which Cazeneuve
and Caillol (1877) extracted as much as 9 per cent. The amount of ash
yielded by white pepper is 1·1 per cent. on an average, that is to say,
considerably less than by black pepper.