Piper cubeba L.f. - Piperaceae - (true) cubeb, tailed pepper, Java pepper, Cubebe, Kubeben-Pfeffer, Schwanz-Pfefffer

Perennial vine, native to Java and Borneo, cultivated in several other tropical areas, e.g. East Africa.

Like in Piper nigrum, piperidine is responsibly for the pungency of P.cubeba fruits.
[Phytochemistry of the genus Piper. Parmar, V. S., Jain, S. C., Bisht, K. S., Jain, R., Taneja, P., Jha, A., … & Boll, P. M., Phytochemistry, Vol.46(4), 1997, 597-673]
http://thaiherbinfo.com/herb/Piper%20betle_phytochemistry/PHYTOCHEMISTRY%20OF%20THE%20GENUS%20PIPER.pdf

„Cubebol (23.6%) was the major component of P.cubeba berry oil.“
[Essential oil constituents of some Piper species. Sumathykutty, M. A., Rao, J. M., Padmakumari, K. P., & Narayanan, C. S., Flavour and fragrance journal, Vol.14(5), 1999, 279-282]

cubebol (spicy, minty)

Cubebol alone causes, after 1-2 minutes of delay, a refreshing effect in the mouth, lasting for approximately 30 minutes.
[Velazco, M. I., Wuensche, L., & Deladoey, P. (2001). U.S. Patent No. 6,214,788. Washington, DC: U.S. Patent and Trademark Office.]

„The chemical composition of the essential oil of ripe berries (11.8 % v/w) and leaves (0.9 % v/w) of Piper cubeba L. Fils. (Piperaceae) was investigated by GC and GC-MS. Sabinene (9.1%), β-elemene (9.4%), caryophyllene (3.1%), epi-cubebol (4.3%), and cubebol (5.6%) were the main components of the berries oil…
From the literature only three older and more limited studies concerning the essential oil composition of P. cubeba berries are known. In a commercial sample from Indonesia (without further specifications), the main components were copaene (10.4%), β-cubebene (11.0%), and cubebol with 10.0%, where cubenol and epi-cubenol were present with 3.5% (Lawrence, 1980). In the P. cubeba berries oil (16.8%) from Sri Lanka the main components were cubebol (31%), β-cubebene (5.1%) and α-copaene (8.1%) (Violon et al., 1991). In P. cubeba berries oil (14.5%) from India the main compounds were cubebol (23.6%), α-pinene (18.2%), β-elemene (7.3%), β-cubebene (5.6%), and δ-cadinene (4.7%) (Sumathykutty et al., 1999)….
The structures of the lignans found in P. cubeba show a broad variation. All types of lignan structures that are commonly distinguished could be identified. Furanofuran lignans such as cubebin, hinokinin, yatein, isoyatein that are common lignans found in the genus Piper also appeared as major lignans in all parts of P. cubeba.“
[Lignan profile of Piper cubeba, an Indonesian medicinal plant. Ruslan, K., Batterman, S., Bos, R., Kayser, O., Woerdenbag, H. J., & Quax, W. J., Biochemical systematics and ecology, Vol.35(7), 2007, 397-402]
http://www.rug.nl/research/portal/files/2866124/04_c4.pdf

„Lignans, such as (-)-cubebin, are the major constituents of P. cubeba. Research results show that the P. cubeba extract (P9605) and the synthetic lignan cubebin might have potential therapeutic use against prostate cancer growth by targeting multiple aspects of the androgen-signaling pathway.“
[Wang YH, Morris-Natschke SL, Yang J, Niu HM, Long CL, Lee KH. Anticancer principles from medicinal Piper (胡椒 Hú Jiāo) plants. J Tradit Complement Med 2014;4:8-16]
http://www.jtcm.org/article.asp?issn=2225-4110;year=2014;volume=4;issue=1;spage=8;epage=16;aulast=Wang

In a comparativ study, P.cubeba fruits contained volatile oil (4.4%) and piperine (0.15%).
[Comparative Physicochemical Evaluation of Fruits and Antidepressant Potential of Volatile Oils of Fruits of Local Piper Species., Khan, M., Oriental Journal of Chemistry, Vol.31(1), 2015, 541-545] http://www.orientjchem.org/pdf/vol31no1/OJCV031I01P541-545.pdf

Kohl, F.G., Die officinellen Pflanzen der Pharmacopoea Germanica, t.32 (1891-1895) [F.G.Kohl]
http://plantgenera.org/species.php?id_species=796436

dried fruits of Piper cubeba