Skip to main content

Black pepper (Piper nigrum)

Lada or merica or black pepper (Piper nigrum) is a plant species in Piperaceae, growing climbing, rich in chemical properties for pepper oil, fat oil and starch which are often used as seasonings with a slightly bitter, spicy, warm and antipyretic flavor.

Morphology

P. nigrum has a trunk that climbs on a pole, sometimes also spreads on the ground surface and can reach 15 m long but in cultivation will be cut to leave 2.75-3 meters. Diameter 6-25 mm and is segmented to length 4-7 cm depending on the level of fertility. The segment at the base is usually shorter.

Dlium Black pepper (Piper nigrum)

Soil roots grow on underground stems with 10-20 strands, small and short in size, while aerial roots grow on each segment with 10-25 strands, 2.5-3.5 cm long and are used to attach themselves to the support.

The orthotropy branch grows from the armpit of the leaf on the stem segment in the soil and above the ground. Plagiatrop branches grow from branches and will grow after fruiting twice. The more plagiatrop branches, the more fruit will grow.

Branches that grow normally will be the growth media for flowers and fruit. The branch has a length of 35-65 cm, grows vertically, but will turn horizontal when the fruit is ripe and finally nod to bear the weight of the fruit.

Black pepper leaf buds are covered in scales, springy and stemmed. Adult leaves are ovoid, pointed tip, the top surface is shiny dark green, the bottom surface is pale green, 12-18 cm long and 5-10 cm wide. The leaves that grow on the upper trunk are usually longer.



Cultivation

Lada grows well at an altitude of 0-700 m in the tropics with 1,000-3,000 mm/year of rainfall and is evenly distributed throughout the year for 110-170 days/year with a dry season of only 2-3 months/year. Humidity 63-98%, temperature 20-35C, sandy and loose soil, good drainage and pH 5.0-6.5.

At least 40 varieties of P. nigrum in Indonesia, but farmers only plant a few varieties depending on the characteristics of the region or island. Each variety has advantages and disadvantages in pest and disease resistance where farmers choose the varieties that are most suitable for cultivation.

Plants are harvested after 3 years and are more productive for up to 8 years, but good maintenance will continue to be productive for up to 15 years or more. Since the flowers come out until the ripe fruit takes 7-9 months.

The young fruit is bright green, then turns dark green and reddish yellow. Black pepper is a fruit that is dried with the skin, while white pepper is a fruit that is dried after going through the process of soaking and stripping.

Content and utilization

White pepper has a more spicy taste but is not as rich as the taste of black pepper which has a more complex taste. The spicy flavor is formed by piperin, piperanin and chavicin. The aroma comes from essential oils consisting of several terpenes, protein, carbohydrates and piperin.

Merica was first known as a spice, but nowadays it is also for traditional and modern health. Pepper oil is widely used for diaphoretic, carminativ, diuretics, increased appetite, increased digestive and rheumatic glands.

Kingdom: Plantae
Phylum: Tracheophyta
Subphylum: Angiospermae
Class: Magnoliopsida
Order: Piperales
Family: Piperaceae
Genus: Piper
Species: Piper nigrum
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular

Cornstalk dracena (Dracaena fragrans)

Drasena or cornstalk dracena (Dracaena fragrans) is a species of flowering plant in Asparagaceae, a shrub that grows slowly, is very adaptive and inhabits in altitude regions of 600-2250 m, multistemmed at the base, up to 15 m high or higher with narrow, upright and slender crowns.

D. fragrans has a round stem with a diameter of up to 30 cm, young plants have a single stem and are not branched with a rosette of leaves to the ends, producing two or more new stems with subsequent flowering episodes.


Lanceolate leaves, 20-150 cm long, 2-12 cm wide, green overall or yellow vertical stripes follow the bone trench in the middle for some varieties, shiny, upright young leaves to spread and larger leaves droop due to weight.

The flowers in panicles are 15-160 cm long, individual flowers have a diameter of 2.5 cm with a six-lobed corolla, are pink and open white with the center having a red or purple line on each lobe for 7-12 mm, very fragrant and popular with pollinating insects.

The berries …
Post a Comment
Read more

Porang (Amorphophallus muelleri)

Porang or iles-iles (Amorphophallus muelleri) is a plant species in Araceae, the leaves are pseudo stems with a height of 40-180 cm and a diameter of 1-5 cm, tubular, green with irregular white patches, each branching point grows bulbil colored brown and yellow tubers.

A. muelleri has pseudo stems and leaves that are bright green to dark green and have greenish white patches. The surface of the stalk is smooth, while the leaves are smooth wavy. Ellipse-shaped leaves with pointed tips.


When flushing has 3, 4-5, 5-6 and finally 6 minor leaf strands with 3 small leaf stems. Young leaves have edges that are light purple, green and will end yellow with a width of 0.3-0.5 mm. Canopy has a width of 50-150 cm.

Stems grow on tubers with a diameter of 25-50 mm and height 75-175 cm. The color of the tuber is brownish or beige on the outer surface and brownish on the inside, rather oval and stringy roots, weight 450-3350 grams, fine tissue, 4-5 months dormant period and 35-55% glucomannan content.

…
Post a Comment
Read more

Mexican sunflower (Tithonia diversifolia)

Paitan or Mexican sunflower (Tithonia diversifolia) is a plant species in Asteraceae, shrubs with 2-4 meters high, abundant yellow flowers, fast growing, tolerant to high canopy density with deep roots and widely used as a barrier to erosion, insulin and green fertilizer.

T. diversifolia grows upright, erect stems are tubular and green woody. Single leaf arranged alternately, length up to 32 cm, width up to 25 cm, sharp edges and base, pinnate bones, rough surface and green. Young leaves have a tip, while adult leaves have 3-5 ends.



Compound flowers grow at the end of branches with long stems. Petals are tubular, smooth hair and green. Crown will be separated, ribbon-shaped, yellow and smooth. Yellow round stamens and curved pistils are yellow.

The fruits are round, light green and turn brown when ripe. The seeds are round, have four corners, 5 mm long, hard and brown in color. Seeds spread by the wind. White taproot.

Mexican sunflower grows wild on the edge of farmland, cliff slopes and …
Post a Comment
Read more