Piperine: A Savor Inducer and a Cancer Reducer

Abstract

Spices have been used for many decades, and although new and improved culinary spices have been developed, black pepper (Piper nigrum) continues to retain its distinguished title as the “King of spices” due to its particular pungent taste. An alkaloid called piperine is the main component in black pepper that, besides generating the well-known taste, imparts well-documented immunomodulatory, anti-inflammatory, antimicrobial, antioxidant, and even anti-cancer properties; these properties have led to rigorous research on black pepper. Studies conducted on cancer cell lines and in animal models with tumors revealed that piperine might influence tumor development and metastasis via various pathways, some of which are quite common for most types of malignant processes, while others are associated with a specific type of cancer. In this review, we summarized the effect of piperine on various types of cancer and the mechanism by which it acts as a carcinopreventive agent.