Overview Of The Most Commom Spices: Black Pepper And Salt

Spices are extensively used as flavor, color, and aroma and also for the preservation of food or beverages. As from many parts of the plant spices may be derived e. g. bark, buds, fruits, leaves, rhizomes, flowers, roots, seeds, stigmas and styles or the entire plant tops. Spices are frequently dried. Spices are used in a processed but complete state.

Piper nigrum (black pepper) is also called king of spices. This is monocious or decorous climbing vine inhabitant to southern India and Sri Lanka. They are broadly cultivated in tropics, the shout climbing stem are very stretchy having leathery blackish green leaves. As Pepper require plenty of rainfall for growth as it is a plant of the humid tropics. It is grown between latitudes of 20° North and 20° South and an altitude of 2400m from sea level effectively. The crop capability to bear a temperature range between 10° and 40°C but the optimum temperature is between 25°C-40°C.

It has distinct properties like antimicrobial, ant mutagenic, antioxidant and radical scavenging and the spontaneous swallowing movement is increased by inhalation of black pepper oil. Black pepper is one of the notorious widely used spices in culinary preparations, perfumery, food processing, and as a condiment. Harvesting of black pepper is done before full maturity is reached and then it is dried until a thin wrinkled skin and the pulp is formed. Black pepper has more flavor than that of the white pepper. Black pepper has been used for many medicinal purposes as it is use to treat vertigo, asthma, colon toxins, obesity, chronic ingestion, congestion, fever, sinusitis, paralytic, arthritic disorders and also helpful in diarrhea and cholera problems. Pepper demonstrating a number of functional properties, it includes: analgesic and antipyretic properties, antimicrobial properties, antioxidant effects etc. A spice is used in cooking for the flavoring, masking/deodorizing, pungency and colorant purposes.

Black salt or bire noon in Nepalese, is a type of rock salt. It is condiment with a salty taste and having pungent smell and used in South Asia. It is also known as "Himalayan black salt. It is widely found in the Himalayas region. Black salt composes major of sodium chloride with numerous other components that provide the salt its color and smell. The smell of black salt is mostly because of its sulfur content. When whole, it forms brownish pink to dark violet translucent crystals due to the presence of Greigite i. e. Fe3S4, Iron (II, III) sulfide in the mineral. When it is ground into a powder form, its color varies from purple to pink. In Ayurveda, black salt has been commended and used for its supposed medical qualities. Black salt mainly contains sodium chloride and some trace impurities of sodium sulfate, sodium bisulfate, sodium sulfide, iron sulfide, sodium bisulfite, and hydrogen sulfide. Sodium chloride gives black salt with its salty taste. Iron sulfide gives its dark violet hue and all the sulfur compounds provides black salt its slight savory taste also having highly distinctive smell, being the most well-known contributor to the smell is hydrogen sulfide. The acidic bisulfate’s or bisulfites provides a mildly sour taste.

In South Asian cuisines black salt is used expansively of Bangladesh, Nepal, India and Pakistan. It is used as a condiment and also used by adding in various foods like chaat, chutneys, salads, all fruits, raitas and several savory Indian snacks. Chaat masala considered as Indian spice blend; for its characteristic sulfurous hard-boiled-egg aroma it is dependent upon black salt. Black salt is considered a cooling spice in Ayurveda. It is known for a laxative and digestive aid. It is also helpful to relieve flatulence and heartburn. In Jammu it is believed to treat goiters. Black salt is also used to cure hysteria. It is also used for making toothpastes by combination of it with other mineral and plant ingredients.

Rock salt (Kala Namak) was taken by 60% during stomach problems of the subjects. It was also helpful to cure goiter. Himalayan salt appears red owing to their mineral content effectively producing color in meat products. Examination was made for comparison of Himalayan rock salt with ordinary cooking salts.