SC - Re: Black Pepper

[Nicholas Sasso]

>    Interesting! Hadn't heard that tidbit, but I *did* read not too long ago,
>in one of the several herb magazines I get, that studies done of late have
>shown that pepper helps the nutrients in your food be absorbed by the body.

>>> Tara Sersen<tsersen at nni.com> 10/26/00 2:57:09 PM >>>
Haven't heard that one, but it doesn't surprise me:
>From Herb Contraindications and Drug Interactions by Francis Brinker, N.D.,
- ---------------------------------------
Black Pepper
Piper nigrum fruit

Contraindications
1) pregnancy - due to its abortifacient effect in large doses (empirical)

Drug interactions
1) increased bioavailability of spartein when administered together with the
component piperine due to increased absorption and/or reduced metabolic breakdown  (PO in rats) .......SNIP ........>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

Do notice that they were researching the COMPONENT PIPERINE.  That is an 
organic compound found in pepper berries.  If you extract and distill it, I suspect you 
canget large quantities ingested at once.  For those prone to accepting what is read,
 look at Gernot Katzer's Spice pages (  http://www-ang.kfunigraz.ac.at/~katzer/engl/index.html  )
for amounts of this component in a sample.  At 5% total piperine-analogs 
(ALL of the related compounds) composition, I wonder how much pepper one need
 ingest for the effects related in the description provided.

Main constituents
    Black pepper contains about 3% essential oil, whose aroma is
    dominated (max. 80%) by monoterpenes: sabinene and alpha-pinene,
    furthermore terpenes, beta-pinene, myrcene, limonene, delta-3-carene
    and monoterpene derivatives (borneol, carvone, carvacrol, 1,8-cineol,
    linalool). Sesquiterpenes make up about 20% of the essential oil:
    beta-caryophyllene, humulene, beta-bisabolone and caryophyllene
    oxide and ketone. Phenylether (eugenol, myristicine, safrol) are found
    in traces. Loss of monoterpenes due to bad storage conditions
    (especially for ground pepper) should be avoided. 

    The pungent principle in pepper is an alkaloid-analog compound,
    piperine; it is the amide of
    5-(2,4-dioxymethylene-phenyl)-hexa-2,4-dienoic acid (piperinic acid)
    with azinane (piperidine); only the trans,trans conformation
    contributes to pepper's pungency. Several piperidine-analogous
    compounds have been isolated from black pepper where the acid
    carbon backbone is partially hydrogenated (piperanine) or two carbon
    atoms longer (piperettine); amides of piperinic acid with pyrrolidine
    (piperyline) or isobutylamine (piperlongumine) have also been
    isolated. Total content of piperidine-analogs in black pepper is about
    5%. 

niccolo difrancesco