Malabar pepper is a variety of

black pepper Black pepper (''Piper nigrum'') is a flowering vine in the family Piperaceae, cultivated for its fruit, known as a peppercorn, which is usually dried and used as a spice and seasoning. The fruit is a drupe (stonefruit) which is about in dia ...

that originated as a chance seedling in a geographical region that now forms part of the present-day state of

Kerala Kerala ( ; ) is a state on the Malabar Coast of India. It was formed on 1 November 1956, following the passage of the States Reorganisation Act, by combining Malayalam-speaking regions of the erstwhile regions of Cochin, Malabar, South ...

in India. The area of production of this variety of pepper now covers all the regions that are part of the

Malabar Coast The Malabar Coast is the southwestern coast of the Indian subcontinent. Geographically, it comprises the wettest regions of southern India, as the Western Ghats intercept the moisture-laden monsoon rains, especially on their westward-facing m ...

. Malabar pepper was one of the commodities most sought after by the ancient

Roman Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a lette ...

and

Arab The Arabs (singular: Arab; singular ar, عَرَبِيٌّ, DIN 31635: , , plural ar, عَرَب, DIN 31635: , Arabic pronunciation: ), also known as the Arab people, are an ethnic group mainly inhabiting the Arab world in Western Asia, ...

traders, and later by the early European navigators. Malabar pepper is classified under two grades known as garbled and un-garbled. The garbled variety is black in colour nearly globular with a wrinkled surface. The ungarbled variety has a wrinkled surface and the colour varies from dark brown to black. The plant (''Piper nigrum'') is a flowering vine in the family Piperaceae, cultivated for its fruit, which is usually dried and used as a spice and seasoning. The fruit, known as a

peppercorn Black pepper (''Piper nigrum'') is a flowering vine in the family Piperaceae, cultivated for its fruit, known as a peppercorn, which is usually dried and used as a spice and seasoning. The fruit is a drupe (stonefruit) which is about in diamet ...

when dried, is a small drupe five millimetres in diameter, dark red when fully mature, containing a single seed. "Malabar pepper" has been granted registration in Part A under Sub-section (1) of Section 13 of Geographical Indications of Goods (Registration and Protection) Act, 1999. The application for registration was made by Spices Board, Ministry of Commerce and Industry,

Government of India The Government of India (ISO: ; often abbreviated as GoI), known as the Union Government or Central Government but often simply as the Centre, is the national government of the Republic of India, a federal democracy located in South Asia, ...

. Other spices from India that have obtained Geographical Indication recognition from the Geographical Indication Registry of India are the following: * Alleppey Green Cardamom * Coorg Green Cardamom * Naga Mircha (Chilli) * Guntur Sannam Chilli *

Byadagi chilli Byadagi chilli ( kn, ಬ್ಯಾಡಗಿ ಮೆಣಸಿನಕಾಯಿ) is a famous variety of chilli mainly grown in the Indian state of Karnataka. It is named after the town of Byadgi which is located in the Haveri district of Karnataka. I ...

* Sikkim Large Cardamom * Mizo Chilli *

Assam Karbi Anglong Ginger Assam (; ) is a state in northeastern India, south of the eastern Himalayas along the Brahmaputra and Barak River valleys. Assam covers an area of . The state is bordered by Bhutan and Arunachal Pradesh to the north; Nagaland and Manipur to t ...

References

{{reflist Kerala cuisine Piper (plant) Geographical indications in Kerala