Piper nigrum L.

DeFilipps, Robert A. & Krupnick, Gary A., 2018, The medicinal plants of Myanmar, PhytoKeys 102, pp. 1-341 : 137-138

Piper nigrum L.

Names.

Myanmar: ngayoke-kaung, mawrite nawa (Mon). English: black pepper.

Range.

Tropical Asia. Cultivated along Myanmar’s coastal areas and Kayin State; thrives in temperatures between 10 and 37.8 degrees Celsius, with at least 1.5 m of rainfall annually.

Uses.

Fruit: Used as a digestive. Seed: Spicy hot, the seeds (peppercorns) are used to stimulate taste buds, whet the appetite, support liver function and circulation, and to reduce phlegm and gas. Powdered peppercorns are mixed with honey and licked to relieve coughs, asthma, and bronchitis and to promote lactation in nursing mother; mixed with shein kho ( Gardenia resinifera ) and opium and taken for chronic diarrhea; mixed with liquid yogurt and sugar to treat nosebleeds and runny noses; and mixed with seeds from anyar-khayar (either Bombax ceiba or Ceiba pentandra seeds) to neu tralize bites from rabid dogs. A paste made of peppercorns and yogurt is used as eye drops to treat night blindness. As a cure for the hiccups, the fumes from heated peppercorns are inhaled. Pepper is eaten to promote digestion, to support urinary function, and to alleviate stomach distension and hemorrhoids. A mixture of powdered pepper and the powdered, dried stems from new-cho ( Albizia myriophylla ) is licked to relieve palpitations and abdominal pains caused by gas.

Notes.

The medicinal uses of this species in India are discussed in Jain and DeFilipps (1991). Medicinal uses of this species in China are discussed in Duke and Ayensu (1985).

References.

Nordal (1963), Agricultural Corporation (1980), Forest Department (1999).