Potential health benefits of black pepper. A focus on human studies

Hafsa Kamran

Abstract

Black pepper, also known as Piper nigrum is related to the family Piperaceae and is most commonly consumed spice worldwide. Among the several different kinds of spices Piper nigrum L. holds a dominant position due to its distinct pungency and flavor and is thus, recognized as “King of Spices”. The pungent aroma and flavor of black pepper is because of naturally occurring alkaloid piperine, volatile oils and oleoresins present in it. Piperine, pellitorine, guineensine, pipnoohine, trichostachine and piperonal are active components in black pepper. In human studies, piperine, the major active component of black pepper has been found to possess direct effect on various cancers, gastrointestinal motility, inflammation, oxidation, genotoxicity, asthma, diabetes, hyperlipidemias, obesity and metabolic syndrome. Piperine has also shown to increase bioavailability of certain drugs thus showing its indirect effect on cognitive performance, hepatic health, urticaria, allergy and ulcerative colitis. The focus of current review is to provide a brief overview of research regarding potential benefits of black pepper on human health.