Download or read book The Geography of Black Pepper (Piper nigrum) written by Kodoth Prabhakaran Nair and published by Springer Nature. This book was released on 2020-09-01 with total page 164 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book considers all aspects of black pepper from its growth, as a flowering vine, to how the dried fruit (peppercorn) is used as a spice and traded as a commodity. It is the economic mainstay of several India states and, principally, in Kerala State, with the Indian subcontinent being the largest black pepper producer. Indonesia has also emerged as a large producer of black pepper. Black pepper commands a leading position among the spices and has an immense commercial importance to world trade, finding its way onto the dining table of millions around the world, on the European and North American continents, and Japan. The use of black pepper ranges from a simple dietary component and flavour enhancer, to that of a spice with huge pharmacological benefits.