Black Pepper

Black Pepper is a perennial vine crop with a productive life of fifteen to twenty years or more. It is easy to grow black pepper. There is only one variety and several native strains of black pepper cultivated in the country.

The bushy black pepper bears fruit much earlier, usually as early as six months after planting.The seed - growth type, on the other hand,starts flowering after five to six years. That is why it is used only for breeding purposes.

Economic Value Of Black Pepper

* Black Pepper is the most widely used spice. The dried berries of black papper called Peppercorns are used as the major condiment in several food preparation.

* Peppercorns give aroma and flavor to food.

Medicinal Value Of Black Pepper

* The berriies are used externally as a rubefacient ( an externally skin application)in baldness and skin diseases.

* The decoction (solution caused by boiling the berries in water), when taken internally is used for dyspepsia, cough and intermittent fever.

* A water infusion of the corons( peppercorns) is used as a gargle in various infections in the throat.

* The roots are boiled in water and the solution is used as tonic, stimulant, cordial and anthelmintic ( expels intestinal worms).


The Black pepper may be propagated by waterspouts and runner stems. Waterspouts are succulent branches which arise from the main stem of primary branches.