Medicinal Plants - International Journal of Phytomedicines and Related Industries

Piper longum, also known as long pepper, contains an alkaloid named as piperine having several medicinal applications. Piperine is useful in cough, chronic bronchitis, fever, headache, toothache and cold etc. A study was conducted to ascertain the variation in piperine content among the eight genotypes of Piper longum. These genotypes were collected and cultivated at Dapoli to exclude environmental influence on piperine production. The fruit extracts of these genotypes were analyzed using HPLC technique for estimation of piperine content. It was observed that genotype collected from Pandur, Maharashtra had the maximum (11.27 ppm) piperine content followed by genotype collected from Kolkewadi, Maharashtra (9.92 ppm). Our results will help the cultivators to select high piperine yielding variety for future cultivations.