Piper retrofractum
Vahl
Javanese long pepper
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What to Eat
Edible parts: Fruit, Spice, Flower
Seeds - used as a spice. Used for green peppercorn spice. Used as a seasoning in curries, preserves and pickles. More pungent than Piper nigrum, but also sweeter.
Where to Find It
A tropical plant. It grows on dry soils. It grows in deciduous forests on poor soils up to 600 m above sea level.
Asia, Cambodia, India, Indochina, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Philippines, SE Asia, Thailand, Vietnam,
How to Identify
A climbing shrub. It grows 5-10 m tall. The stem is 3-4 mm across. The leaves are sword shaped and taper to the tip and are unequal at the base. They are 10-12 cm long by 3-4 cm wide. Male and female flowers are on separate plants. Female spikes are 4 cm long while male spikes are 5 cm long. The fruit are oval berries. The spikes are red. Possibly now Piper chaba
How to Grow
Plants can be grown from cuttings. Plants are pruned to make them flower.
Medicinal Uses
Used as a medicine in Indonesia.
Other Uses
The wood and root are the source of a dye - it is pale brown if used alone on cotton, but mixed with bakam (Caesalpinia sappan), it gives a brownish-red.
Wikipedia
Source ↗Piper retrofractum, the Balinese long pepper or Javanese long pepper, is a flowering vine in the family Piperaceae, cultivated for its fruit, which is usually dried and used as a spice and seasoning. This species is native to Java island in Indonesia.
Other Information
It is a cultivated plant.
Notes
Used as a medicine in Indonesia. There are between 1000-2000 Piper species. They are mostly in the tropics.
Names & Synonyms
Bi ba, Cabe jawa, Cabe rambat, Chab, Chabe alas, Chabe sula, Chabean, Chai, Chavala, Chavi, Choi, Dei plei, Di pli, Gachha, Lada panjang, Seu kaa meu, Tieu doi
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