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Ayurveda

Long pepperPiper longum

A pungent Ayurvedic spice, documented mostly for its piperine: 20 mg raised curcumin absorption by 2000% in healthy volunteers.

Botanical name
Piper longum
Part used
dried fruit spike (the root is used separately)
Also called
Sanskrit Pippali, Magadhi; Hindi Pipli, Pippali; Indian long pepper, Pippalimula (the root)
Used in
Ayurveda
Taken for
Indigestion, Appetite, Gas
Sold as
powder (churna), capsules, tablets, extract, as part of trikatu, whole dried spike

What is meant by long pepper

Long pepper is the dried fruit of Piper longum, a climbing vine of the pepper family native to the Indo-Malaya region. The fruits grow tightly packed in a small spike, and the dried spike is what is sold. It is a close relative of black pepper (Piper nigrum) and shares the pungent alkaloid piperine with it, though the two spices differ in how much they contain.

In Ayurveda the dried fruit is called pippali and is both a cooking spice and a medicine, taken as a powder (churna), in capsules or tablets, in extracts, and in compound formulas. It is one of the three spices in trikatu (“the three pungents”), the other two being ginger and black pepper, which has its own entry on this site. Reviews list its traditional uses as bronchitis, cough, cold, snakebite and scorpion sting, and as a contraceptive, as well as digestive uses. Human gut trials of long pepper alone are rare; the clearest human result concerns piperine and the absorption of other substances.

In the traditions

Ayurveda (about Ayurveda)

In the Bhavaprakasha Nighantu, a classical materia medica, pippali is pungent in taste, light, unctuous and sharp in quality, neither strongly hot nor cold in potency (anushna-shita) and sweet in its post-digestive effect (vipaka). Its action on the doshas is given as calming kapha and vata. A 2014 review of the classics describes trikatu, the mix of ginger, black pepper and long pepper in equal weights, as the drug of choice for agnimandya, the tradition’s term for weak digestion or low digestive fire, and cites the Brihattrayi texts for its use in malabsorption (grahani), abdominal disease and piles. These are the tradition’s claims; the review is of historical texts, not trials.

What the plant contains

The fruit contains piperine and related amide alkaloids (including piperlongumine), plus volatile oils, flavonoids and steroids. Piperine is the compound studied most: in the lab and in rats it inhibits liver and gut enzymes that clear drugs and some nutrients, and it modulates the P-glycoprotein transporter. A 2024 study of ten Piper longum populations found piperine varied between plant parts and between populations. Reviews describe antimicrobial, anti-inflammatory and antiulcer activity in animals. These are findings from tubes and rodents.

What has been tested in people

We could not find a placebo-controlled trial of long pepper for a gut outcome such as dyspepsia, bloating or constipation. A 2022 comprehensive review of the plant discusses clinical trials, but the activities it lists come chiefly from laboratory and animal experiments. A 2022 narrative review of trikatu included 13 records, which it summarized as showing safety, anti-inflammatory and immune-modulating effects and a bioavailability-enhancing effect on a co-administered drug, and it called for larger double-blind randomized trials.

The strongest human result concerns piperine, not digestion. In a study of healthy volunteers, 2 g of curcumin alone produced serum levels that were either undetectable or very low, while adding 20 mg of piperine produced much higher levels from 15 minutes to one hour (P < 0.01 at 15 and 30 minutes; P < 0.001 at one hour) and an increase in bioavailability the authors calculated as 2000%. In rats, the same combination raised curcumin bioavailability by 154% and reported no adverse effects. A separate rat study found piperine to be a potent, nonspecific inhibitor of drug-metabolizing enzymes. A 2023 scoping review summarizes that piperine modulates absorption in the gut, the P-glycoprotein transporter, and cytochrome P450 and UGT enzymes.

This is the reason long pepper appears as an ingredient in Ayurvedic formulas and in some supplements: the tradition uses it as an enhancer for other herbs, and the science supports an effect on how much of some compounds is absorbed. What has not been tested in the sources we read: long pepper alone for digestion, trikatu for digestion in a randomized trial, and the effect of long pepper (rather than isolated piperine) on drug levels in people.

StudyDoseWhat it found
Pharmacokinetic study, healthy human volunteers (and rats): curcumin with and without piperine PMID 96191202 g curcumin with 20 mg piperineCurcumin serum levels undetectable or very low alone; bioavailability increased by 2000% with piperine in humans (154% in rats)
Rat and mouse enzyme and sleeping-time study of piperine PMID 3917507Animal dosesPiperine was a potent, nonspecific inhibitor of liver drug metabolism; prolonged hexobarbital sleeping time in mice
Narrative review of Trikatu (ginger, black pepper, long pepper), 13 records reviewed PMID 34081846VariousDescribed as safe, anti-inflammatory and immune-modulating, with a bioavailability-enhancing effect on a co-drug; larger randomized trials called for
Scoping review of piperine in clinical practice PMID 34996326VariousPiperine modulates gut absorption, P-glycoprotein, CYP450 and UGT enzymes
Comprehensive review of Piper longum: traditional uses, chemistry, pharmacology PMID 36256521VariousMostly lab and animal data; traditional uses include bronchitis, cough, snakebite and contraception

Doses used in trials and traditional preparations

No gut trial dose for long pepper exists in the sources we read. The one human piperine result used 20 mg of piperine with 2 g of curcumin. Traditionally pippali is used as a powder (churna) and as one of three equal parts of trikatu, the 1:1:1 ratio of ginger, black pepper and long pepper that the classical review describes. The piperine content of the fruit varies by plant part and population, which is why the dose of piperine in a long pepper product is hard to state.

Treat these figures as a record of what was studied. Whether any amount of long pepper suits a particular person is a question for a clinician or pharmacist who knows their history.

Safety

The trikatu review calls the records it reviewed safe, but we found no randomized trial that tests the safety of long pepper directly. The 2022 comprehensive review notes the plant’s traditional use as a contraceptive; we found no human pregnancy or breastfeeding safety studies. The safety question that has data is not toxicity but absorption: piperine changes how much of other substances reach the blood.

For Ayurvedic products as a class, a 2008 study of 193 products sold online found lead, mercury or arsenic in 20.7%, and CDC documented 12 adult lead poisoning cases tied to Ayurvedic remedies across five states in 2000 to 2003. Plain spice powders are not the metal-based rasa shastra class, and neither study singled out long pepper.

Drug interactions

This is the main safety point for long pepper. Piperine inhibits drug-metabolizing enzymes (cytochrome P450, UDP-glucuronyltransferase) and the P-glycoprotein transporter in lab and animal work, and it raised curcumin absorption in people by 2000% in the study above. Medicines that rely on those pathways to be cleared are the class where piperine could raise blood levels; the reviews describe this as a mechanism, and we found no controlled human interaction trial for long pepper itself. Piperine from black pepper acts the same way, which is why this applies to black pepper and trikatu products too.

Prescriptions flagged alongside long pepper

Published interaction references put these medicines next to this herb, and the quiz acts on them; a pharmacist is the person to confirm any of it:

Products in the catalog with long pepper

These catalog entries list long pepper or one of its preparations among their active ingredients. Each page shows the amount on the label, the trials behind it and what buyers report.

Renew Life PARA SMART Cleansing Formula, 15-Day Program 4.2 out of 5 from 1,398 ratings from Amazon · ~$2.04 a day across the full 15-day program Himalaya Organic Trikatu 4.4 out of 5 from 381 ratings from Amazon · $0.30 per day at one caplet ($17.99 for 60 at Amazon and Vitacost); $0.35 on the brand site Banyan Botanicals Hingvastak Powder 4.7 out of 5 from 173 ratings from Amazon · $0.24 per half-teaspoon serving ($22.99 for 8 oz on the brand site and Amazon, about 96 servings); $0.12 to $0.48 a day across the label’s quarter to half teaspoon once or twice daily Banyan Botanicals Vata Digest 4.6 out of 5 from 125 ratings from Amazon · $0.64 per day at two tablets ($28.99 for 90); the label allows one to two tablets once or twice a day, $0.32 to $1.29

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Related herbs

Ayurvedic / TCM / Western Black pepper Piper nigrum Ayurvedic Trikatu Zingiber officinale + Piper nigrum + Piper longum Ayurvedic / TCM / Western Ginger Zingiber officinale Ayurvedic / TCM / Western Turmeric Curcuma longa

Questions people ask

What is long pepper?

It is the dried unripe fruit spike of Piper longum, a relative of black pepper. In Ayurveda it is called pippali and is both a spice and a medicine.

What is trikatu?

A classical Ayurvedic mix of ginger, black pepper and long pepper in equal weights. A review of the classics calls it the drug of choice for agnimandya, the tradition’s term for weak digestion. That is the tradition’s statement; we found no randomized trial of trikatu for digestion.

Does long pepper help digestion?

We could not find a controlled gut trial of long pepper. The tradition uses it for digestion, and a 2023 scoping review notes that pepper has long been used for gastritis and diarrhea, but those are traditional uses, not trial results.

Why is piperine added to supplements?

In a study of healthy volunteers, adding 20 mg of piperine to 2 g of curcumin raised curcumin bioavailability by 2000%. Supplement makers use it for that effect. The same effect is why piperine raises questions about medicines.

Is long pepper used as a contraceptive?

A 2022 review lists contraception among the plant’s traditional uses. We found no human trial on it, and no pregnancy safety data.

Sources