SC - Re: Black Pepper
Nicholas Sasso
NJSasso at msplaw.com
Thu Oct 26 12:17:11 PDT 2000
> 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
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