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Review
. 2021 Feb;35(2):680-700.
doi: 10.1002/ptr.6855. Epub 2020 Sep 14.

Piperine: A review of its biological effects

Iahtisham-Ul Haq  1 , Muhammad Imran  2 , Muhammad Nadeem  3 , Tabussam Tufail  2 , Tanweer A Gondal  4 , Mohammad S Mubarak  5
Affiliations
Review

Piperine: A review of its biological effects

Iahtisham-Ul Haq et al. Phytother Res. 2021 Feb.

Abstract

Medicinal plants have been used for years as a source of food, spices, and, in traditional medicine, as a remedy to numerous diseases. Piper nigrum, belonging to the family Piperaceae is one of the most widely used spices all over the world. It has a distinct sharp flavor attributed to the presence of the phytochemical, piperine. Apart from its use as a spice, P. nigrum is frequently used for medicinal, preservation, and perfumery purposes. Black pepper contains 2-7.4% of piperine, varying in content is associated with the pepper plant. Piperine displays numerous pharmacological effects such as antiproliferative, antitumor, antiangiogenesis, antioxidant, antidiabetic, anti-obesity, cardioprotective, antimicrobial, antiaging, and immunomodulatory effects in various in vitro and in vivo experimental trials. Furthermore, piperine has also been documented for its hepatoprotective, anti-allergic, anti-inflammatory, and neuroprotective properties. This review highlights and discusses the medicinal and health-promoting effects of piperine, along with possible mechanisms of its action in health promotion and disease prevention. In addition, the present review summarizes the recent literature related to piperine as a therapeutic agent against several diseases.

Keywords: Piper nigrum; black pepper; cancer prevention; metabolic syndromes; piperine.

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References

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