A REVIEW ON DIVERSIFIED USE OF THE KING OF SPICES: PIPER NIGRUM (BLACK PEPPER)

Black pepper, the ‘King of spices’ (Piper nigrum L.), is a widely used spice, known for its pungent odour. From time immemorial, plant sources were used in traditional systems of medicine and day-to-day common use, such as in meal preparation and cosmetic purposes. This is due to their vast pharmacological potential with minimum side effects. Among the various species of the Piperaceae family, black pepper is one of the most popular due to its principle pharmacological component, piperine. Which is an alkaloid that has diverse pharmacological activities like antioxidant, anti-obesity, antitumor, antipyretic, anticonvulsant, anti-thyroid, antifungal, antibacterial, insecticidal, hepatoprotective, anti-asthmatic, larvicidal, antihypertensive, anti-inflammatory, antidiabetic, antidiarrheal, bio-availability enhancer, immunomodulator, antiepileptic, antifertility, GI stimulant, lipid metabolism accelerator, anticancer, CNS stimulant, diuretic, aphrodisiac, blood purifier and antiplatelet activities, etc. Due to some religious value of black pepper, its being popular from ancient time to modern generation. This review is aimed to provide a literature review on recent advancement of chemistry, pharmacognosy, pharmacological activities, new piperine based formulations and other general use of Piper nigrum.