Common Name: Ashanti Pepper

General Information

Ashanti pepper is an evergreen climbing shrub producing woody stems from 4 - 20 metres tall. The plant supports itself on other plants by means of adventitious roots which are produced along the stems[].
The plant is a popular spice in Africa, where it is often harvested from the wild, semi-cultivated and sometimes also cultivated for use both as a spice and also as a medicine. It is sold in local markets[]. It is sometimes grown as an ornamental, often indoors in cooler climates[].

Known Hazards

None known

Botanical References

Range

Tropical Africa - Senegal to southern Sudan, south to DR Congo, Zambia and Tanzania.

Habitat

Evergreen rain-forest, forest edges, usually in wet places, gallery forest along rocky rivers; at elevations of 750 - 1,650 metres[].

Properties

Edibility Rating
Medicinal Rating
Other Uses Rating
Habit	Evergreen Climber
Height	10.00 m
Self-fertile	No
Cultivation Status	Cultivated, Ornamental, Semi-cultivated, Wild

Cultivation Details

A dioecious species, both male and female forms need to be grown if fruit and seed are required.

Edible Uses

Fruits - used fresh and dried as a spice[]. Milder than true pepper (Piper nigrum), it is used for flavouring soups, rice and other foods[, ]. The dried fruits can be stored for more than a year[].

Leaves - used fresh and dried as a spice[, ]. They are sometimes chewed with betel nut (Areca catechu) as a substitute for Piper betle[].

Ash from the burnt plant is used as a salt substitute[].

Medicinal

The fruits and leaves are used fresh and dried as components of medicinal preparations[].

The roots are chewed and the juice swallowed as an aphrodisiac[].

Other Uses

The roots are used as chew sticks for cleaning the teeth[].

Propagation

Seed -

Add a Comment:

If you have any useful information about this plant, please leave a comment. Comments have to be approved before they are shown here.

Name:

Email(Private):

Message:

Captcha: subtract 1 from 12