Western, Chinese and Ayurvedic herbalism
Black pepper
Piper nigrum
Also known as pepper, white pepper (decorticated fruit), Malabar pepper, Piper, white pepper, Maricha, Vellaja, Ushana.
Piper nigrum is a perennial woody climber of the humid forests and plantations of the Western Ghats, above all Kerala and coastal Karnataka, and is now grown across the tropics. The dried unripe fruit is the black pepper of commerce and one of the oldest and most widely used drugs in Ayurveda, where Maricha is a member of Trikatu, the three pungents that kindle digestive fire. Its special quality is yogavahi: it carries other medicines into the tissues and increases their effect.
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Indications what the tradition reached for it in
- Sluggish digestion with bloating and heaviness after meals
- Poor appetite with a coated tongue
- Productive cough with thick white mucus
- Head cold and sinus congestion of the cold, damp type
- Flatulent colic
- Intestinal worms (adjunct)
- Obesity with low metabolic drive
- Poor absorption of other herbs and nutrients
- Cold extremities with sluggish circulation
- Chronic bronchitis with cold, congested chest
- Muscular aches and stiffness (topical)
- Planet Ayurveda
- Diarrhea from cold
- Dyspepsia
- Nausea
- Cold and cough
- Loss of appetite
- Poor circulation
- Parasitic infections
- Sticky mucus in lungs
- Gas
- Abdominal pain
- Bloating
- Flatulence
- Worm infestation
- Abdominal cramps
- Indigestion
- Abdominal distension
- Bronchitis
- Colic
Specific indications
A heavy, cold, congested kapha patient who feels dull after meals and produces copious white phlegm
A patient whose herbal formula seems not to be working and whose digestion is too weak to absorb it
The winter head cold with a blocked nose, watery discharge and a chill that lifts with hot spiced food
An overweight, sedentary person with low body heat, slow bowels and no appetite in the morning
Gastric atony; congestive chills.
Safety
The record lists 7 contraindications; open the plate in the library to read them in full.
In practice
Maricha is rarely given alone. Its place is as the kindling in a formula: a pinch to a gram of the powder added to a kwatha, churna or avaleha so that a weak digestion can take up the main herbs. Trikatu (black pepper, long pepper and dry ginger in equal parts) is the standard digestive for kapha and ama, given before meals with honey or warm water for heaviness, poor appetite, cold and congestion.
In Ayurveda
Rasa: katu (pungent). Virya: ushna (heating). Vipaka: katu (pungent). Guna: laghu (light), tikshna (sharp, penetrating), ruksha (dry). Dosha: pacifies kapha and vata; aggravates pitta. Prabhava: yogavahi: carries other medicines to the tissues and enhances their effect. Karma: deepana (kindles digestion); pachana (digests ama); ruchya (improves taste and appetite); kaphahara (reduces kapha); shleshmahara (clears mucus); krimighna (anthelmintic); shvasahara (relieves dyspnea); kasahara (relieves cough); shulaprashamana (relieves colic); medohara (reduces fat); chakshushya (good for the eyes, in small doses); rasayana (rejuvenative, in Trikatu and Pippali-based formulas). Classical indications: agnimandya (weak digestion); ajirna (indigestion); aruchi (loss of appetite); kasa (cough); shvasa (dyspnea, asthma); pratishyaya (rhinitis, common cold); krimi (worms); shula (colic); gulma (abdominal mass, flatulence); medoroga (obesity); jvara (fever with kapha); hikka (hiccup); twak roga (skin disease, topical). The dried unripe fruit is used as churna, most often ground with dry ginger and long pepper as Trikatu; it is added to kwatha, avaleha and arishta as a digestive carrier, and ground into taila or lepa for external use on the chest and joints. Classical formulations: Trikatu churna, Sitopaladi churna, Talisadi churna, Maricha churna, Chyawanprash, Lavangadi vati, Hingvashtaka churna, Marichadi taila. Described in: Charaka Samhita, Sushruta Samhita, Ashtanga Hridaya, Bhavaprakasha Nighantu, Dhanvantari Nighantu, Raja Nighantu, Madanapala Nighantu, Kaiyadeva Nighantu, Sharngadhara Samhita, Ayurvedic Pharmacopoeia of India.
Dosing as the sources wrote it
| Preparation | As written | Metric |
|---|---|---|
| Churna | 0.5-1 g powdered fruit once or twice daily with honey or warm water | 500-1000 mg |
| Trikatu churna | 1-3 g compound powder before meals with honey | 1000-3000 mg |
| Kwatha (as ingredient) | 1-2 g crushed fruit added to a decoction | 1000-2000 mg |
| Piperine (isolated) | 5-20 mg piperine with other agents whose absorption is to be enhanced | 5-20 mg |
| Taila, topical | 5-10 mL warming oil massaged into stiff joints | 5-10 mL |
| Powdered dried fruit: 250-420 mg/day (adults) | 250-420 mg |
Doses are reproduced from the sources for practitioners and are not a recommendation for any person.
From the sources
Overview. Piper nigrum is a perennial woody climber of the humid forests and plantations of the Western Ghats, above all Kerala and coastal Karnataka, and is now grown across the tropics. The dried unripe fruit is the black pepper of commerce and one of the oldest and most widely used drugs in Ayurveda, where Maricha is a member of Trikatu, the three pungents that kindle digestive fire. Its special quality is yogavahi: it carries other medicines into the tissues and increases their effect.
Clinical Notes. Traditionally used in Ayurveda to improve digestion and as vermifuge Enhances bioavailability of nutrients like curcumin Used in TCM (Hu Jiao) to warm interior, expel cold Me & Qi
Clinical Notes. Maricha is rarely given alone. Its place is as the kindling in a formula: a pinch to a gram of the powder added to a kwatha, churna or avaleha so that a weak digestion can take up the main herbs. Trikatu (black pepper, long pepper and dry ginger in equal parts) is the standard digestive for kapha and ama, given before meals with honey or warm water for heaviness, poor appetite, cold and congestion.
Action and Therapy. Black pepper may be used as a corrigent of griping medicines. Combined with quinine it is frequently of service in intermittents, especially when congestive chill takes place. Piperin was once advised for the same purpose, but is less effective than the tincture of pepper; and even this frequently fails. Black pepper has carminative properties, and is useful in flatulence, and rarely may be used in gastric atony in those unaccustomed to the free use of pepper as a condiment.
Drawn from Cook's Physio-Medical Dispensatory; Scudder's Specific Medication and Specific Medicines; King's American Dispensatory, 18th edition (Felter and Lloyd); Felter's Eclectic Materia Medica, Pharmacology and Therapeutics, and the Bountiful Herbs editorial.
In formulas
Black pepper stands in 112 documented formulas in the library, among them Amṛtāriṣta, Ayaskṛti, Aśvagandhādyariṣṭa, Uśīrāsava, Karpūrāsava, Kuṭajāriṣta.
Often paired with
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Black walnutJuglans nigraThe whole plate is in the library. The compass, Compare, the Sky of eleven hundred plants and the formulary open with an email address and a password, free, with the formula builder and its safety engine. Herbert without limit, his formulating, clients, the handouts and the labels are the paid room.
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