Long pepper
species of plant
Long pepper (Piper longum), sometimes called Indian long pepper or pippali, is a flowering vine in the family Piperaceae, cultivated for its fruit, which is usually dried and used as a spice and seasoning. Long pepper has a taste similar to, but is sweeter and more pungent than, its close relative Piper nigrum – from which black, green and white pepper are obtained.
The fruit of the pepper consists of many minuscule fruits – each about the size of a poppy seed – embedded in the surface of a flower spike that closely resembles a hazel tree catkin. Like Piper nigrum, the fruits contain the compound piperine, which contributes to their pungency. Another species of long pepper, Piper retrofractum, is native to Java, Indonesia. The fruits of this plant are often confused with chili peppers, which belong to the genus Capsicum, originally from the Americas.
History
Use of long pepper occurred in Greece in the sixth or fifth century BCE, though Hippocrates discussed it as a medicine rather than a spice. Among the Greeks and Romans and prior to the Columbian exchange, long pepper was a common spice.
The ancient history of long pepper is often interlinked with that of black pepper (Piper nigrum). Theophrastus distinguished the two in his work of botany.
“Long pepper” enters the record as species of plant. Crown Archives preserves that source wording while asking what Long, pepper and species can confirm, complicate or overturn.
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Stable identifiers, scientific names and standards terminology offer the best bridge between this overview and specialist evidence. The source revision retrieved here is dated Aug 24, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q685336. The Library of Congress control number is sh2007010632. 1 of 1 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank.
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This entry incorporates text from “Long pepper” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.