Pepper vines from Piperaceae family grow in Kerala, India

From the archive record

Black pepper or black gold is cultivated throughout the year in South India. It is known as king of spices, climber from India, black pepper is the source of hot and pungent peppercorns. One can see green pepper, the pepper are green in colour before it is sun dried. Black pepper is native to south India, and is extensively cultivated there and elsewhere in tropical regions. Currently Vietnam is the world's largest producer and exporter of pepper, producing 34% of the world's Piper nigrum crop as of 2008. Dried ground pepper has been used since antiquity for both its flavor and as a medicine. Black pepper is the world's most traded spice. It is one of the most common spices added to European cuisine and its descendants. The spiciness of black pepper is due to the chemical piperine, not to