Water-pepper

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Water-pepper

Kingdom:	Plantae
Phylum:	Magnoliophyta
Class:	Magnoliopsida
Order:	Caryophyllales
Family:	Polygonaceae
Genus:	Persicaria
Species:	P. hydropiper

Binomial name

Persicaria hydropiper
(L.) Spach

Water-pepper or Water pepper (Persicaria hydropiper, syn. Polygonum hydropiper) is a plant of the family Polygonaceae. It grows in damp places and shallow water; a native of the temperate zones of the Northern hemisphere. It has some use as a spice because of its pungent flavour.

[edit] Active ingredients

The water-pepper has the following active ingredients: 2 bicyclic sesquiterpenoids, polygodial (tadeonal, an unsaturated dialdehyde with a drimane backbone) and waburganal which has been found responsible for the pungent taste (hence its edibility);^[1] rutin (see rue) is the source of the bitter taste impression. Polygodial also appears in an exotic Australian spice, Tasmanian pepper (Tasmannia sp.), and, in small quantity, in the Paracress (Spilanthes acmella).

The plant contains an essential oil (0.5%) which consists of monoterpenoids and sesquiterpenoids: α-pinene, β-pinene, 1,4-cineol, fenchone, α-humulene, β-caryophyllene, trans-β-bergamotene. Carboxylic acids (cinnamic, valeric and caproic acid) and their esters were present in traces. The composition depends strongly on genetic factors.

[edit] Edibility

In Japan this plant's leaves are used as a vegetable, these are from the cultivar version, and not the wild version, which has a far more pungent taste than the cultivar one. The seeds are also used too, for use in wasabi sauce.

[edit] References

^ M Jonassohn (1996)Sesquiterpenoid unsaturated dialdehydes - Structural properties that affect reactivity and bioctivity. Doctoral thesis, Lund University, Sweden. ISBN 91-628-2215-2. [1]PDF (730 KiB)