GREEN PEPPER
Green pepper is the aromatic and spicy fruit of Piper nigrum and has always been considered a precious spice, useful for enriching dishes and beneficial for its healing properties. In the past it was also used as a bargaining chip, as a real currency.
It is a shrub native to the southern coasts of India and the archipelago of Malaysia, cultivated in the tropical regions of Asia, Africa and America. The pepper plant is a perennial woody liana that reaches four meters in height. Its leaves, alternate, leathery, oval, are five to ten centimeters long and three to six wide. The flowers are small and bloom on a pendulous axis, about eight centimeters long, inserted at the base of the leaves.
Unlike the more common black pepper, picked and dried in the sun, green pepper is harvested fresh, when ripe not yet completed.
The greenish hue of this pepper can in fact be the consequence of its processing, precisely of drying, during which it undergoes a treatment with sulfur dioxide that prevents the loss of its chromatic tone.
The properties of green pepper are almost identical to those of black pepper:
- The anti-fermentative and antiseptic potentials were already exploited in the past for the preservation of food;
- It promotes digestion, because the "pinching" is also perceived at the level of the stomach;
- Febrifuge and antibacterial properties. Precisely for this characteristic it is also used in some insecticides;
- Some studies have linked the consumption of green pepper and black pepper to the increase in endorphins and that is why this spice is often called a natural antidepressant helping, chemically, to fight depression.
A chopped green pepper, nutmeg, coriander and juniper are ideal for enlivening and enhancing the flavors and at the same time allow a digestive and antiseptic action of the digestive system.