| Cubeb | |
|---|---|
 | |
Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Plantae |
| Clade: | Tracheophytes |
| Clade: | Angiosperms |
| Clade: | Magnoliids |
| Order: | Piperales |
| Family: | Piperaceae |
| Genus: | Piper |
| Species: | P. cubeba |
| Binomial name | |
| Piper cubeba | |
Piper cubeba,cubeb ortailed pepper is a plant ingenusPiper, cultivated for itsfruit andessential oil. It is mostly grown inJava andSumatra, hence sometimes calledJava pepper. The fruits are gathered before they are ripe, and carefully dried. Commercial cubeb consists of the driedberries, similar in appearance toblack pepper, but with stalks attached – the "tails" in "tailed pepper". The driedpericarp is wrinkled, and its color ranges from grayish brown to black. Theseed is hard, white and oily. The odor of cubeb is described as agreeable andaromatic and the taste as pungent, acrid, slightly bitter and persistent. It has been described as tasting likeallspice, or like a cross between allspice and black pepper.[1]
Cubeb came to Europe viaIndia through the trade with the Arabs. The namecubeb comes fromArabickabāba (كبابة)[2] by way ofOld Frenchquibibes.[3] Cubeb is mentioned inalchemical writings by its Arabic name. In hisTheatrum Botanicum,John Parkinson tells that the king of Portugal (Possibly eitherPhilip IV of Spain orJohn IV of Portugal, as that year was marked by the start of thePortuguese Restoration War) prohibited the sale of cubeb to promoteblack pepper (Piper nigrum) around 1640. It experienced a brief resurgence in 19th-century Europe for medicinal uses, but has practically vanished from the European market since. It continues to be used as aflavoring agent forgins andcigarettes in the West, and as a seasoning for food inIndonesia.
In the fourth century BC,Theophrastus mentionedkomakon, including it withcinnamon andcassia as an ingredient in aromatic confections.Guillaume Budé andClaudius Salmasius have identifiedkomakon with cubeb, probably due to the resemblance which the word bears to theJavanese name of cubeb,kumukus. This is seen as a curious evidence of Greek trade with Java in a time earlier than that of Theophrastus.[4] It is unlikely Greeks acquired them from somewhere else, since Javanese growers protected theirmonopoly of the trade by sterilizing the berries by scalding, ensuring that the vines were unable to be cultivated elsewhere.[2]
In theTang dynasty, cubeb was brought to China fromSrivijaya. In India, the spice came to be calledkabab chini, that is, "Chinese cubeb", possibly because the Chinese had a hand in its trade, but more likely because it was an important item in the trade with China. In China, this pepper was called bothvilenga andviḍaṅgaविडङ्ग (the cognate Sanskrit word), which had denotedembelia ribes before being used to denote the Malayan cubeb (simplified Chinese:荜澄茄;traditional Chinese:蓽澄茄;pinyin:bì chéng qié[5]).[6][7] Li Hsun thought it grew on the same tree as black pepper. Tang physicians administered it to restore appetite, cure "demon vapors", darken the hair, and perfume the body. However, there is no evidence showing that cubeb was used as a condiment in China.[6]
In his 1827 dictionary,Nhật dụng thường đàm (日用常談;lit. 'Common Words Used Daily'), Vietnamesescholar-official Phạm Đình Hổ glossed蓽䔲茄 "cubeb" (Sino-Vietnamese:tất đăng gia) as 乙ớt, which currently denoteschilli pepper from theAmericas.[8][9]
The Book of One Thousand and One Nights, compiled in the 9th century, mentions cubeb as a remedy for infertility, showing it was already used by Arabs for medicinal purposes. Cubeb was introduced toArabic cuisine around the 10th century.[10]The Travels of Marco Polo, written in late 13th century, describes Java as a producer of cubeb, along with other valuable spices.[11]
In the 14th century, cubeb was imported into Europe from theGrain Coast, under the name of pepper, by merchants ofRouen andLippe.[1] Cubeb eventually came to be thought of as repulsive to demons by the people of Europe.Ludovico Maria Sinistrari, aRoman Catholic priest who wrote about methods ofexorcism in the late 17th century, includes cubeb as an ingredient in an incense to ward off anincubus.[12]
After the prohibition of its sale in Portugal in 1640, culinary use of cubeb decreased dramatically in Europe, and only its medicinal application continued to the 19th century. In the early 20th century, cubeb was regularly shipped from Indonesia to Europe and the United States. The trade gradually diminished to an average of 135 t (133long tons; 149short tons) annually, and practically ceased after 1940.[13]
The dried cubeb berries contain essential oil comprisingmonoterpenes (sabinene 50%, α-thujene, andcarene) andsesquiterpenes (caryophyllene,copaene,α- and β-cubebene, δ-cadinene,germacrene), the oxides 1,4- and 1,8-cineole and the alcoholcubebol.
About 15% of avolatile oil is obtained bydistilling cubeb with water. Cubebene, the liquid portion, has the formula[1] C15H24 and comes in two forms, α- and β-. They differ only in the position of thealkenemoiety, with the double-bond being endocyclic (part of the five-membered ring) in α-cubebene, as shown, butexocyclic in β-cubebene. It is a pale green viscous liquid with a warm woody, slightly camphoraceous odor.[14] After rectification with water, or on keeping, this depositsrhombic crystals ofcamphor of cubeb.[1]
Cubebin (C20H20O6) is a crystalline organic compound isolated from cubeboilcake, and can bechemically synthesized fromcubebene.[15] It was discovered byEugène Soubeiran and Hyacinthe Capitaine in 1839, and irritates themucous membranes.[1]
Physicians in theIslamic Golden Age distilled "water ofal butm" (turpentine) from a mixture ofherbal products, including cubeb.[16]
In Victorian and Edwardian England, cubeb was an antiseptic forgonorrhea treatment.[1]William Wyatt Squire wrote in 1908 that cubeb berries "act specifically on the genitourinarymucous membrane. (They are) given in all stages ofgonorrhea"[17] andThe National Botanic Pharmacopoeia printed in 1921 stated that cubeb was "an excellent remedy for flour albus or whites".[18] Atincture of the compound appeared in theBritish Pharmacopoeia, and agum with 1% cubebin, roughly equivalent to 30-60grains of cubeb fruit, had become standardized as adrug, also calledcubeb.[1]
In Europe, cubeb was one of the valuable spices during the Middle Ages. It was ground as aseasoning for meat or used in sauces.[1] A medieval recipe includes cubeb in makingsauce sarcenes, which consists ofalmond milk and several spices.[19] As an aromatic confectionery, cubeb was often candied and eaten whole.[20] Ocet Kubebowy, avinegar infused with cubeb, cumin and garlic, was used for meatmarinades inPoland during the 14th century (Dembinska 1999, p. 199). Cubeb can be used to enhance the flavor of savory soups.
Cubeb reached Africa by way of the Arabs. InMoroccan cuisine, cubeb is used in savory dishes and in pastries likemakrouts, little diamonds ofsemolina with honey and dates.[10] It also appears occasionally in the list of ingredients for the famed spice mixtureRas el hanout. InIndonesian cuisine, especially in Indonesiangulés (curries), cubeb is frequently used.
Cubeb, combined withstramonium,eucalyptus, and other plant extracts, was once, beginning in the 1880s, frequently used in the form ofcigarettes forasthma, chronicpharyngitis, andhay fever.[1][21][22]Edgar Rice Burroughs, being fond of smoking cubeb cigarettes, said humorously that if he had not smoked so many, there might never have beenTarzan. Marshall's Prepared Cubeb Cigarettes was a popular brand, with enough sales to still be made during World War II.[23]
In 2000, cubeb oil was included in thelist of ingredients found in cigarettes, published by the Tobacco Prevention and Control Branch ofNorth Carolina's Department of Health and Human Services.[24]
Bombay Sapphire gin is flavored with botanicals including cubeb andgrains of paradise. The brand was launched in 1987, but its maker claims that it is based on a secret recipe dating to 1761.Pertsivka, a dark brown Ukrainian pepper-flavouredhorilka with a burning taste, is prepared by infusion with cubeb andchiles.[25]
Cubeb is sometimes used toadulterate theessential oil ofpatchouli, which requires caution for patchouli users.[26] In turn, cubeb is adulterated byPiper baccatum (also known as the "climbing pepper of Java") andPiper caninum.[27]
m. bio. bot. Embelia Ribes, arbuste primulacée, aux fruits rouge-noirs ; c'est une plante médicinale importante — n. son fruit, employé comme vermifuge.
{{citation}}: CS1 maint: publisher location (link).January 9, 2006,.
{{citation}}: CS1 maint: publisher location (link).Attribution
This article incorporates text from a publication now in thepublic domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Cubebs".Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 7 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 607.