Guinea pepper, West African pepper
Piper guineense

Family: Piperaceae

What it is like

A slightly woody creeper. It attaches to the trunks of trees. It grows 10 m long. The fruit occur in clusters. They are 5 mm across. They are orange-red in colour.

There are between 1000-2000 Piper species. They are mostly in the tropics.

Where it is found

It is a tropical plant. It grows in forests, woodland and along rivers.

Countries/locations it is found in

Africa, Angola, Benin, Cameroon, Central Africa, Central African Republic, CAR, Congo DR, Congo R, Côte d'Ivoire, East Africa, Equatorial-Guinea, Gabon, Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinée, Guinea-Bissau, Ivory Coast, Liberia, Nigeria, Sao Tome and Principe, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Tanzania, Togo, Uganda, West Africa

How it is used for food

The fresh or dried fruit is used to flavour soups, rice and other foods. It is like mild pepper. The leaves are added to soups. The leaves are also cooked and used as a substitute for tea. Leaves are chewed with betel nut as a substitute for Piper betle. Ash from the plants is used as a substitute for salt.

It is sold in local markets and internationally.

Edible parts

Fruit, leaves, seeds - spice

How it is grown

Plants can be grown by seeds or cuttings. Seeds germinate in about 22 days. Plants can be grown from stem cuttings.

Fruit are harvested then dried in the sun. In Tanzania fruit are collected from October to December. In Central African Republic flowers have been observed in May and fruit from December to February.

Its other names

Local names

Abeka, Acachat, Adua, Ashanti pepper, Ashoesie, Beka, Benin pepper, Boloko, Bololoko, Fufop, Iketu, Iyeyeh, Kakwale, Kampidi, Kandase, Kanlin man, Kapidi, Kechu, Keshu, Ketsu, Ketu, Kumpidi, Lenlenkoun, Masoro, Mbeka, Mbikondi, Mtambuu mwitu, Ndong, Nhamaco, Nkefu, Ohaya, Oleleko, Olokoloko, Poivre, Rukokota, Sop, Tambuu, Taquale, Tokesu, Toketchu, Toketu, Uda, Uziza, Zenbeleh, Zenbeleh-leh

Synonyms

Cubeba clusii Miq.; Piper clusii (Miq.) C. DC.; Piper famechonii C. DC.;