Cubeb

Parts Usually Used

Unripe berries (dried)

Description of Plant(s) and Culture

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.

Where Found

Grows in the forests of Penang, Java, Sumatra, New Guinea, and he neighboring islands. Usually grows extensively in plantations under the shade of coffee trees.

Medicinal Properties

Antiseptic, carminative, diuretic, expectorant, stimulant, stomachic, aromatic, purgative, antisyphilitic

Biochemical Information

10 to 185 volatile oil, amorphous cubebic acid, colorless crystaline cubebin and resins

Legends, Myths and Stories

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. The odor of cubeb is agreeably aromatic. The taste warm, bitterish, and camphorous, leaving in the mouth a peculiar sensation of coolness like that produced by the oil of peppermint.

Cubeb is used mainly as an ingredient in French medicated gin bitters. Cubeb berries add flavor and certain qualitites to tobacco or botanical mixtures. Once widely offered in cigarettes as a medicinal smoke.

Uses

Historical herbalists employed cubeb for digestive complaints such as indigestion, as well as for respiratory conditions including catarrh, bronchitis, coughs, and general lung troubles. Cubeb cigarettes were traditionally smoked in attempts to alleviate hay fever, asthma, and pharyngitis. Folk practitioners also utilized cubeb oil for urinary ailments, burning sensations during urination, colic, and bladder complaints.

The plant was reputed in traditional medicine to tone the stomach and bowels, stimulate the flow of urine, and ease joint pains and hemorrhoids. Culinally, it was widely used as a seasoning for soups, while the whole berries were historically chewed to freshen the breath.

Bibliography

, Loma Linda, CA 92354, Original copyright 1939, revised edition 1994 The Herbalist Almanac , by Clarence Meyer, Meyerbooks, publisher, PO Box 427, Glenwood, Illinois 60425, copyright 1988, fifth printing, 1994 The Herb Book , by John Lust, Bantam Books, 666 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY. copyright 1974. , Lotus Press, PO Box 325, Twin Lakes. , Copyright 1988, published 1992 The Yoga of Herbs: An Ayurvedic Guide to Herbal Medicine , by Dr.

David Frawley & Dr. Vasant Lad, Lotus Press, Twin Lakes, Wisconsin, Second edition, 1988. , 15 Columbus Circle, New York, NY 10023