All plant species
5 species
NEBlack pepper
Piper nigrum L.
Piperaceae family
Black pepper (Piper nigrum L.) is an evergreen woody climbing vine of the pepper family (Piperaceae) whose small drupes ripen red in spikes and dry to give black or white pepper — the most traded spice in the world, known as the 'king of spices'. According to Plants of the World Online (Kew POWO) the recorded native range is Sri Lanka, while Kew's Species Profile gives the Malabar coast (Kerala, India) as its origin; recent evidence suggests a centre of origin in the Western Ghats–Sri Lanka region. The pungent alkaloid piperine (2–7% of dry weight) is the signature active, together with the essential oil (β-caryophyllene, limonene, sabinene). Vietnam is the world's largest producer and exporter of black pepper.
NECassia
Cinnamomum cassia (L.) J.Presl
Lauraceae family
Cassia cinnamon (Cinnamomum cassia) is a small evergreen tree of the laurel family; its bark and leaves yield fragrant essential oil, and the dried rolled bark is the familiar cinnamon of cooking and traditional medicine; native to southern China–Southeast Asia, grown widely in Yên Bái and Quảng Nam (Vietnam).
NEGinger
Zingiber officinale Roscoe
Zingiberaceae family
Ginger (Zingiber officinale) is a perennial rhizome of the ginger family and one of the world's most widely used spices; its pungency comes from gingerols (fresh) and shogaols (dried), with growing clinical evidence for nausea and joint pain.
NEStar anise
Illicium verum Hook.f.
Schisandraceae family
Star anise is the typically eight-lobed dried fruit of Illicium verum, an evergreen 8–15 m tree of the Schisandraceae family whose native range — according to Kew's Plants of the World Online — runs from southern and western Guangxi in China to northern Vietnam. Its fruit oil is over 80% trans-anethole, giving the sweet liquorice-like aroma; star anise is both a cornerstone spice of East and Southeast Asian cooking and the main industrial source of shikimic acid for synthesising oseltamivir (Tamiflu).
NETurmeric
Curcuma longa L.
Zingiberaceae family
Turmeric (Curcuma longa) is the most widely cultivated member of the ginger family; its orange rhizome holds 2–5% curcuminoids — both a spice and food colour and one of the most clinically studied medicinal plants.