Piperine
/ˈpaɪpəˌriːn/noun
A pungent alkaloid that gives black pepper its sharp taste.
Did you know?Piperine was named from Latin *piper* (“pepper”), the same root behind the old spice trade that made pepper so valuable it was once treated like black gold.
Etymological Timeline
Proto-Indo-European
PIE
*peperi-
“A word for pepper or a pepper-like spice”
Ancient Greek
Greek
πέπερι (péperi)
“Pepper”
Latin
Latin
piper
“Pepper”
17th–19th Century
New Latin / English
piperina
“The pepper-derived chemical principle”
Modern English
English
piperine
“The alkaloid responsible for the pungency of black pepper”