🌿 Black Pepper (Kali Mirch)

🔍 Basic Information

  • Common Name: Black Pepper

  • Botanical Name: Piper nigrum L.

  • Family: Piperaceae

  • Commercial Part: Fruit (Dried berry)

  • Indian Names:

    • Hindi: Kali mirch

    • Bengali: Kala morich, Golmorich

    • Gujarati: Kalamari, Kalomirich

    • Kannada: Kare menasu

    • Kashmiri: Marutis

    • Malayalam: Kurumulaku, Nallamulaku

    • Marathi: Mira, Kali mirch

    • Oriya: Gol maricha

    • Punjabi: Kali mirch

    • Sanskrit: Marich, Ushna, Hapusha

    • Tamil: Milagu

    • Telugu: Miriyala Tige

    • Urdu: Kali mirch, Siah mirch

  • Foreign Names:

    • Spanish: Pimienta

    • French: Poivre

    • German: Pfeffer

    • Swedish: Peppar

    • Arabic: Filfil Aswad

    • Dutch: Peper

    • Italian: Pepe

    • Portuguese: Pimenta

    • Russian: Pyerets

    • Japanese: Kosha

    • Chinese: Hu-Chiao

🌾 Climatic Requirements for Cultivation

  • Temperature Range: 10°C to 40°C (optimum: 25–35°C)

  • Rainfall: Well-distributed annual rainfall of 125–200 cm is ideal

  • Altitude: From sea level up to 1500 m above MSL

  • Soil: Well-drained, fertile soils with high organic matter; pH 5.5–6.5

  • Climate: Hot and humid tropical conditions with partial shade are best

🌍 Origin and Distribution

  • Origin: South Western Ghats of India

  • Global Cultivation: Indonesia, Malaysia, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Vietnam, China, Brazil, Mexico, Guatemala

  • India's Major Growing Areas:

    • Kerala: Idukki, Wayanad, Kozhikode

    • Karnataka: Coorg, Chikmagalur, Shimoga

    • Tamil Nadu: Nilgiris, Dindigul

🌱 Popular Varieties in India

  • Panniyur Series:

    • Panniyur-1 (high yielding and popular)

    • Panniyur-2, Panniyur-3, Panniyur-4, Panniyur-5, Panniyur-6, Panniyur-7, Panniyur-8

  • IISR Varieties (from Indian Institute of Spices Research):

    • IISR Shakti

    • IISR Girimunda

    • IISR Malabar Excel

  • Other Popular Local Cultivars:

    • Karimunda

    • Kottanadan

    • Subhakara

    • Sreekara

    • Arakkulam Munda

🧪 Uses and Applications

  • Culinary:

    • Used in seasoning, spice mixes, pickling, baking

    • Enhances flavor and aroma in food; final dash in cooking

    • White pepper is preferred in light-colored dishes like mayonnaise

  • Processing Products:

    • Pepper oil, oleoresin, green pepper in brine, dehydrated or frozen green pepper, encapsulated pepper

  • Medicinal/Functional Uses:

    • Antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, antimicrobial

    • Enhances bioavailability of drugs (due to piperine)

    • Used in Ayurvedic and Unani medicines

  • Industrial Uses:

    • Component in pharmaceutical formulations and health supplements