Cubeb or tailed pepper or shital chini / kabab chini in Hindi is a plant in genus Piper, cultivated for its fruit and essential oil. It is mostly grown in Java and Sumatra, hence sometimes called Java pepper. The fruits are gathered before they are ripe, and carefully dried. Commercial cubebs consist of the dried berries, similar in appearance to black pepper, but with stalks attached — the "tails" in "tailed pepper". The dried per carp is wrinkled, its color ranges from grayish-brown to black. The seed is hard, white and oily. The odor of cubebs is described as agreeable and aromatic; the taste, pungent, acrid, slightly bitter and persistent. It has been described as tasting like allspice or like a cross between allspice and black pepper.
Cubeb came to Europe via India through the trade with the Arabs. The name cubeb comes from Arabic Kebab, which is of unknown origin, by way of Old French quibbles. Cubeb is mentioned in alchemical writings by its Arabic name. It has Theatrum Botanical; John Parkinson tells that the king of Portugal prohibited the sale of cubeb in order to promote black pepper around 1640. It experienced a brief resurgence in 19th-century Europe for medicinal uses, but has practically vanished from the European market since. It continues to be used as a flavoring agent for gins and cigarettes in the West, and as a seasoning for food in Indonesia. It has a woody dry, spicy and slightly camphoraceous aroma.
Cubeb oil is derived from the small and attractive Litsea Cubeba plant. This is a small, brightly colored bush found mostly in tropical areas. The vibrant green leaves produce a pleasant, lemon odor. Small fruits that resemble peppers are used to extract Cubeb essential oil.
Cubeb Essential Oil has calming properties and used during stress and hypertension. It has anti-inflammatory property that makes it suitable for various uses. It is widely used as astringent and antiseptic.
In India, Sanskrit texts included cubeb in various remedies. Charak and Sushruta prescribed a paste of cubebs as a mouthwash or dries cubebs internally for oral and dental diseases, loss of voice, halitosis, fevers, cough.
Historically, cubeb was used as an alternative spice to black pepper. It was commonly exported from its native Islands of Indonesia to the European Market and the US.
Cubeb is a creeper and has a bunch of tiny flowers growing from fleshy spikes. Its fruit is round in shape and looks like black pepper. Cubeb Oil is used widely in Taiwan and Japan because of its therapeutic properties.
Uses & Benefits:
Cubeb can be used in the form of oil, paste or powder, as nasal drops, perfume, spices, and medicine and skin ointment.
Cubeb cures asthma and oral health problems, prevents nausea and helps indigestion. Cubeb berries aid in treating bronchitis. Cubeb Oil is used to treat head problems, speedup wound healing, regulates proper heart functioning and work as an anti-inflammatory.
Cubeb is a perennial vine or shrub; the round branches of the creeping or climbing stem are ash-gray and take root at the joints. The leaves are smooth, oblong-ovate, and pointed. The flowers grow in smooth, scaly spikes, developing into a cluster of berries. Cubebs are dried, unripe berries, which look like black pepper.
Cubebs were first introduced into Europe by Arabians as pepper with tails; so called because of the short stem attached to the fruit. The King of Portugal forbade imports of this new kind of pepper for fear it should spoil the sail of other pepper.
Uses: Helps indigestion, catarrh, bronchitis, coughs, and lung problems. Cubeb cigarettes are said to relieve hay fever, asthma, and pharyngitis. Cubeb oil is useful for urinary ailments and acts as an antiseptic against gonorrhea, syphilis, chronic bladder troubles, burning urine, leucorrhea, colic. Cubeb gives tone to stomach and bowels, increases the flow of urine, relieves join pains, gleets (penile discharge), abscesses of the prostate gland, and hemorrhoids. It has been used largely for seasoning soups. The whole berries are chewed for offensive breath.