The most obvious constituent of the fruits odour of cubebs and a warm aromatic camphoraceous taste. In China it was recently found, that the volatile oil decreases the death rate of rats in infected with influenza virus, as compared to that of control group without the oil. Another constituent is cubebin (2-3%), of which the crystals may sometimes be seen in the fruits skin, devoid of any remarkable therapeutic action though bitter of taste. The resin extracted from cubebs contains cubebic acid. Othe reported constituents of the volatile (essential) oil are sesquiterpene hydrate, cadinene, cineole,dipentene, carene, sabinene, pinene, camphene, azulene,, turpineol, starch, gum, resin and fixed.
Description
Cubeb Pepper is a climbing-plant with long (3-15 m) stalks. Leaves egg-round with pointed top and at the undersurface covered with sunken, small glands. The 10 mm fruits of cubeb pepper (berries) are spherical though typically toiled, with a sweetyodour, to be distinguished from black pepper; beneath the fruits skin (pericarp) is a nut which contain the seed, white and oily; they react with sulphuric acid (red colour), which is mostly not the case with forgeries.
Locality
Native in Java Indonesia; in woods, also cultivated in gardens along hedges, in coffea and cocoa estates, up to 400 m. This plant (Cubeb pepper) was introduced into medicine by the Arabian physician of the middle ages and is used as such and spice a.o. in Europe, India, China, Indo china and Malay.
Latin : Piper Cubeba/ Cubebaofficinalis
Indonesia : Maricabuntut/ Rinu/ Kemukus
English : Cubeb Pepper
.png)
0 Comments: