Pepper has been known from antiquity both for its flavour and use as medicine. No plant since the Apple of Eden has had a greater effect on human history than the black pepper. Pepper has been used in the Western culture for millennia with documented references dating back to 500 BC and is known as the ‘King of Spices’ or the ‘Master Spice’. The archaeological evidence proves that humans have been using pepper and grinding peppercorns for 9000 years. The method of chewing betel nuts, betel leaves (Piperaceae) and lime powder (tambula) was first described by Herodotus (340 BC). This began when Alexander the Great (327 BC) invaded India and discovered the pleasure of well-seasoned food. Though pepper has been mentioned in writings that are over 3000 years old, the cultivation began in Indonesia around 100 BC. Black pepper was found stuffed in the nostrils of Ramesses II placed as a part of the mummification rituals shortly after his death in 1213 BC. Pepper was also known in Greece as early as 4th century BC. Hippocrates was known to have employed pepper in several diseases. Pliny, the Elder, in his Natural History describes the prices in Rome around 77 AD, as ‘Long pepper ….. is 15 denarii per pound, while that of white pepper is 7, and of black, 4’. This indicates that pepper was used as commodity money during the Roman time. Black pepper was well known and widespread in Roman Empire according to Apicius’ de re coquinaria, a 3rd century cook book which includes pepper used in majority of its recipes and in ‘The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire’ Edward Gibbon wrote that pepper was a favourite ingredient of the most expensive Roman cookery. It is also said that Alaric, the Visigoths (410 AD) and Attila, the Hun (408 AD), each demanded a ransom of more than 3000 pounds of pepper from Rome as a tribute when they besieged the city in 5th century, which speaks of the fact that pepper was so valuable at that time and was the collateral currency. In the Middle ages, pepper was used to conceal the taste of partially rotten meat, as the people of the time knew that eating the spoiled food would make them sick, and it is true that piperine in pepper has antimicrobial properties. Black pepper was known in China in the 2nd century BC if the reports of Tang Meng, an explorer are correct. Black pepper made its first appearance in Chinese texts as hujiao (foreign pepper) and by the 12th century it had become a popular ingredient in Chinese cuisine. Pepper reached South East Asia more than 2000 years ago and was grown in Malaysia and Indonesia about that time. Pepper plantations in Brazil go back to 1930. Pepper has been used in India since pre-historic times as a spice, and has been known to Indian cooking since 2000 BC. India particularly, the Malabar coast (present Kerala state) was the important source until well after the Middle ages to Europe, the Middle East, North Africa, Thailand and Malaysia. In trade, it was often referred to as ‘black gold’ and was used as a form of commodity money, as the