Common Name: Peepal, Pippali
English Name: Long pepper, Dried catkins
Botanical Name: Piper longum Linn.
Family: Piperaceae
Description: Long pepper is a slender aromatic climber, with a large perennial woody root and jointed stems thickening at the nodes. The fruits are ovoid, yellowish-orange, minute, and drupe around 1 inch in diameter. The spikes are red when ripe and turn to black on drying. The plant bears flowers in rains and fruits in early winters.
Chemical Constituents: The plant contains actives like piperine, piperlongumine, piplasterol, pipperin, pippalartin, piplartine, sylvatin, sesamin, diaeudesmin, piperlonguminine, piperlingumine, pipermonaline, piperundecalidine, brachyamide A, brachyamide B, brachystine.
Properties: Pippali is valued in Ayurvedic medicine and foods for enhancing digestion and metabolism. It is combined with dried ginger and black pepper to form trikatu , which can be taken to help regulate cholesterol and help prevent obesity. It is also used to treat coughs, colds, fevers and rheumatism. Pippali has a folklore reputation as an aphrodisiac, and is believed to improve vitality.
Used in the following MATXIN products: