Perennial (in culture — annual) herbaceous plant of the nightshade family. The stem is erect, branched, 30-100 cm tall. Leaves alternate, petiolate, entire, lanceolate, ovate-lanceolate, ovate or elongated-ovate, 2-14 cm long, pointed, wedge-shaped at the base. The flowers are regular, bisexual, single or 2-3 in the forks of the stem; corolla wheel-shaped, five-parted to the middle, white or yellowish, rarely reddish or purple. The fruit is a hanging dry berry, bright red, less often green or yellowish. Blooms in June-August, bears fruit in August-September.
Spread. Comes from Central America. It is cultivated as a vegetable plant throughout the territory of Ukraine.
Procurement and storage . Ripe dried fruits of bitter varieties of pepper (Fructus Capsici) are used for medical purposes. Pepper fruits are collected as they ripen and dried in the sun. The finished raw materials are stored in dry, ventilated, isolated rooms. The shelf life is 3 years. Pharmacies do not release raw materials.
Chemical composition . Pepper fruits contain the alkaloid capsaicin (0.03-0.2%), ascorbic acid (up to 400 mg %), carotenoids (P-carotene, neo-p-carotene, pseudo-α-carotene, p-carotene-epoxide, citroxanthin , cryptoxanthin, zeaxanthin, antheraxanthin, violaxanthin, capsanthin, etc.), flavonoids, glucoalkaloid solanine, coumarin scopoletine, essential (more than 1%) and fatty (4-16%) oil, sulfur, chlorine and silica, potassium, sodium, calcium salts, iron, aluminum and phosphorus.
Pharmacological properties and use . Tincture of pepper fruits is prescribed internally to stimulate appetite and improve digestion. Externally, in the form of rubbing, the tincture is used for rheumatic and muscle pain, sciatica, neuralgia and chills. Pepper tincture is a part of frostbite ointment, complex-pepper ointment, pepper-ammonia and pepper-camphor liniments, etc., and thick pepper extract is part of a pepper patch. The use of pepper is contraindicated in peptic ulcer disease of the stomach and duodenum, in acute and chronic gastritis, enteritis and colitis, acute and chronic hepatitis and cholecystitis (in the acute stage) and in kidney diseases.
Medicinal forms and applications. Internally – tincture of fruits (made with 90% alcohol in a ratio of 1:10) 10-15 drops in a glass of water 3 times a day 30 minutes before meals.
Externally – rubbing with tincture (prepared as in the previous prescription);
ointment against frostbite (Unguentum contra congelationem) is rubbed into exposed parts of the skin to prevent frostbite;
capsitrin (Capsitrinum), pepper-ammonia liniment and pepper-camphor liniment are used for rubbing in neuralgia, myositis, etc.;
pepper plaster (Emplastrum Capsici) is used as a distracting and pain-relieving agent for radiculitis, neuralgia, myositis, lumbago, etc. (before applying the plaster, the skin is degreased with alcohol, ether or cologne and wiped dry);
capsin (Capsinum) for rubbing in joint and muscle rheumatism, arthritis and exudative pleurisy; Camphocin (Camphocinum) for rubbing against rheumatism and arthritis;
pepper tincture is mixed with a double amount of vegetable oil and used for rubbing in sciatica, rheumatic joint pain and myositis.