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Peppercorns rich in vitamins A, K

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  • Originally published November 9, 2009 at midnight, updated November 10, 2009 at 4:35 p.m.

Q: I absolutely love to eat black pepper - I put it on everything. Can you share with me a little history about black pepper? Does pepper have any nutritional value?

A: Pepper comes from the seed or fruit of a shrub, which originally grew on the western coast of India.

Today, it is grown and cultivated in Malaysia, China, Sri Lanka, Madagascar and South America, with 80 percent coming from Indonesia. While black pepper can grow wild, most of it is cultivated on plantations.

The pepper plants require constant trimming and fertilization, and the underbrush must be constantly cut away. The pepper berry is green at first, then turns yellow and is picked when it turns red, just before it is quite ripe. This is because they are more pungent at this time.

They are then spread out to dry in the sun. After they are dried, they turn black.

White pepper is not as strong, and is made from ripe berries from which the outer coat has been removed before grinding.

A pepper shrub will yield fruit in three years and will reach full production by the time the plant is 7 years old.

Peppercorns are very rich in vitamins A and K. It's a good source of dietary fiber and contains calcium, magnesium, potassium, manganese, phosphorous and beta carotene.

Q: Some time back, you listed some food trivia facts and since I understand you like trivia, I am just wondering if you would consider listing some more facts? Thanks for your consideration.

A: I do love trivia, so here are a few trivia facts you might find interesting:

Worcestershire sauce is made from dissolved anchovies.

The most expensive coffee in the world comes from civet poop.

Coca-Cola would be green if coloring was not added to it.

On average, a pound of potato chips costs 200 times more than a pound of potatoes.

Only five out of 100 pounds of salt ends up on the dinner table, the rest is used for such diverse purposes as packing meat, building roads, feeding livestock, tanning leather and manufacturing glass, soap, ash, and washing compounds.

There are 15,000 different kinds of rice.

Refined sugar is the only food known to provide calories, but has no nutritional value.

After the "Popeye" comic strip started in the 1930s, spinach consumption went up by 33 percent in the United States.

It takes food seven seconds to get from your mouth to your stomach.

Phylis B. Canion is a doctor of naturopathic medicine and is a certified nutritional consultant, e-mail her at doc.phyl@yahoo.com. This column is for nutritional information only and is not intended to treat, diagnose or cure.


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