Herbal remedies have
become popular, due in part to the lower risk of adverse reactions. Thousands
of plants have been used traditionally to treat various diseases. Among them,
species of the genus Piper are important medicinal plants used in
various systems of medicine. The Piper longum fruit has been used in
traditional medicine, including the Ayurvedic system of medicine due to its
high medicinal values. In Ayurvedic formulary of India, it is reported to use Pippali in
more than 300 formulations.
The fruit (Spike) of
Pippali (Piper longum Linn.) is one
of the prime Rasayana (rejuvenator) drugs in Ayurveda and is widely used to
treat various diseases especially for the treatment of respiratory disorders. Several
biological activities like immunostimulatory, anti-ulcer, anti-amebic,
anti-oxidant, hepato-protective, asthma, constipation, gonorrhea, paralysis of the tongue, diarrhea, cholera,
chronic malaria, viral hepatitis, respiratory infections, stomachache, bronchitis, diseases
of the spleen,
cough, and tumors and anti-inflammatory
activities were reported on the fruit of this plant.
Long pepper
(Pippali) as sold in India appears to be derived from two or three species,
including one, which Indonesian. Indian long pepper is a product either of Piper longum or Piper peepuloides, while the Indonesian and Java Long Pepper
imported from Malaysia is from Piper
retrofractum. The products of these species are used for the same purposes.
In India, the main source of supply being Assam, West Bengal, Uttar Pradesh, and
from neighboring country Nepal. India also imports the long pepper from Malaysia
and Singapore.
There are
several varieties of Piper longum
fruits such as Murshidabad (Asli), Shillong (Savali), Coach Behar & Assam
(Bodki), Coach Behar & Assam (Gol), Purnea, Central Bengal and Indonesia (Piper retrofractum) is commonly
available in the Indian market either in separate or in mixed form. However, we
have already set up our mind to categories them as Chhoti Pippali (small
sized), Badi
Pippali (long sized) and Gol pippali (Round shaped). All the above said varieties
are used for similar therapeutic purposes but Chhoti Pippali (Savali) is
more preferred by physicians. It is a well-known fact that the Pippali
is one of the most important drugs in the treatment of Tamaka Shwasa
(bronchial asthma).
The worldwide
spread corona is also reported to infect the respiratory tract and thus, there is
a high demand of the Pippali to manufacture drug as it is one of the important
ingredients to prepare formulation for treating respiratory disorders. As we
know that in preparation of compound formulation, all the ingredients must
require to take an effective batch of medicines. If any ingredient not available, the
production of medicine will be stopped. In my opinion, when all varieties of Piper longum have similar therapeutic
value, we may consider the situation and not to stick a particular variety
while accepting the same in the manufacturing of medicines.
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