Zanthoxylum is a
genus of about 250 species of
deciduous and
evergreen trees, shrubs and climbers in the
familyRutaceae that are native to warm
temperate and
subtropical areas worldwide. It is the type genus of the tribe Zanthoxyleae in the subfamily
Rutoideae. Several of the species have yellow
heartwood, to which their generic name alludes.[3] Several species are cultivated for their use as spices, notably including
Sichuan pepper.
Description
Plants in the genus Zanthoxylum are typically
dioecious shrubs, trees or woody climbers armed with
trichomes. The leaves are arranged alternately and are usually
pinnate or
trifoliate. The flowers are usually arranged in
panicles and usually function as male or female flowers with four
sepals and four petals, the sepals remaining attached to the fruit. Male flowers have four
stamens opposite the sepals. Female flowers have up to five, more or less free
carpels with the
styles free or sometimes fused near the tip. The fruit is usually of up to four
follicles fused at the base, each containing a single seed almost as large as the follicle.[4][5]
Taxonomy
The genus Zanthoxylum was first formally described in 1753 by
Carl Linnaeus in the first volume of Species Plantarum.[6][7]
The generic name is derived from
Ancient Greek words ξανθός (xanthos), meaning 'yellow', and ξύλον (xylon), meaning 'wood'. It is technically misspelled, as the z should be x, but botanical nomenclature does not allow for spelling corrections. It refers to a yellow dye made from the roots of some species.[8] The first species that Linnaeus described was Zanthoxylum trifoliatum, now regarded as a
synonym of Eleutherococcus trifoliatus.[7][9] The once separate genus Fagara is now included in Zanthoxylum.[10]
Zanthoxylum piperitum is harvested in Japan and Korea to produce sanshō (山椒) or chopi (초피), which has numbing properties similar to those of Chinese Sichuan peppercorns.[16]
In Korean cuisine, chopi is often used to accompany fish soups such as chueo-tang, whereas the plant's seeds are separated and used to make oil, and the oil is used as a medicine.
In the states of
Maharashtra,
Karnataka, and
Goa in Western
India, the dried berries of Zanthoxylum rhetsa are known as teppal or tirphal in
Marathi are added to foods such as legumes and fish. The name in both languages means 'three fruits' or 'three pods'.[20] Because the trees bear fruit during the
monsoon season, the berries are associated with the concurrent
Krishna Janmashtami festival.[21]
The fresh fruits are parrot green in color and are used as a flavouring agent in many curries made with a paste of coconut, chilis, and other spices. When dried, the flesh of the fruit hardens, turns a brownish black color and opens up to show the black seeds within. The seeds are discarded and the dried fruit is stored in containers for use around the year. Mostly used in fish preparations and a few vegetarian dishes, with coconut masala, this spice has a very strong woody aroma and is discarded at the time of eating the curry.
Chemistry
Plants in the genus Zanthoxylum contain the lignan
sesamin.
Zanthoxylum clava-herculisL. – Hercules' club, pepperbark, southern prickly ash, West Indian yellowwood (central and southeastern United States to eastern Mexico)
The genus Fagara has been sunk into Zanthoxylum, but as of September 2021[update], no name seemed to have been provided for the former Fagara externa, which was regarded as an unplaced name by
Plants of the World Online.[24]
References
^"Zanthoxylum L."TROPICOS. Missouri Botanical Garden.
Archived from the original on 2010-09-10. Retrieved 2010-02-26.
^
ab"Zanthoxylum". Plants of the World Online. Retrieved 16 August 2020.
^Thomas, Val; Grant, Rina (2001). Sappi tree spotting: Highlands: Highveld, Drakensberg, Eastern Cape mountains. illustrations: Joan van Gogh; photographs: Jaco Adendorff (3rd ed.). Johannesburg: Jacana. p. 260.
ISBN978-1-77009-561-8.
^Hartley, Thomas G. (2013). Wilson, Annette J.G. (ed.).
Flora of Australia (Volume 26). Canberra: Australian Biological Resources Study. p. 74. Retrieved 17 August 2020.
^Beurton, C. (1994). "Gynoecium and perianth in Zanthoxylum s.l. (Rutaceae)". Plant Systematics and Evolution. 189 (3–4): 165–191.
doi:
10.1007/bf00939724.
S2CID2655415.
^A review of the early Miocene Mastixioid flora of the Kristina Mine at Hrádek nad Nisou in North Bohemia, The Czech Republic, January 2012 by F. Holý, Z. Kvaček and Vasilis Teodoridis - ACTA MUSEI NATIONALIS PRAGAE Series B – Historia Naturalis • vol. 68 • 2012 • no. 3–4 • pp. 53–118
^Wilbur, C. Keith, MD. Revolutionary Medicine 1700-1800. The Globe Pequot Press. Page 23. 1980.
^Bharadwaj, Monisha (2006). Indian Spice Kitchen. Hippocrene Books. pp. 82–83.
ISBN978-0-7818-1143-9.
^"{title}".
Archived from the original on 2017-12-17. Retrieved 2017-05-18.
^The Nigerian Zanthoxylum; Chemical and biological values. S. K. Adesina, Afr. J. Trad. CAM, 2005, volume 2, issue 3, pages 282-301 (
articleArchived 2016-03-03 at the
Wayback Machine)
^"Fagara externa Skottsb". Plants of the World Online. Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. Retrieved 2021-09-13.
Zanthoxylum is a
genus of about 250 species of
deciduous and
evergreen trees, shrubs and climbers in the
familyRutaceae that are native to warm
temperate and
subtropical areas worldwide. It is the type genus of the tribe Zanthoxyleae in the subfamily
Rutoideae. Several of the species have yellow
heartwood, to which their generic name alludes.[3] Several species are cultivated for their use as spices, notably including
Sichuan pepper.
Description
Plants in the genus Zanthoxylum are typically
dioecious shrubs, trees or woody climbers armed with
trichomes. The leaves are arranged alternately and are usually
pinnate or
trifoliate. The flowers are usually arranged in
panicles and usually function as male or female flowers with four
sepals and four petals, the sepals remaining attached to the fruit. Male flowers have four
stamens opposite the sepals. Female flowers have up to five, more or less free
carpels with the
styles free or sometimes fused near the tip. The fruit is usually of up to four
follicles fused at the base, each containing a single seed almost as large as the follicle.[4][5]
Taxonomy
The genus Zanthoxylum was first formally described in 1753 by
Carl Linnaeus in the first volume of Species Plantarum.[6][7]
The generic name is derived from
Ancient Greek words ξανθός (xanthos), meaning 'yellow', and ξύλον (xylon), meaning 'wood'. It is technically misspelled, as the z should be x, but botanical nomenclature does not allow for spelling corrections. It refers to a yellow dye made from the roots of some species.[8] The first species that Linnaeus described was Zanthoxylum trifoliatum, now regarded as a
synonym of Eleutherococcus trifoliatus.[7][9] The once separate genus Fagara is now included in Zanthoxylum.[10]
Zanthoxylum piperitum is harvested in Japan and Korea to produce sanshō (山椒) or chopi (초피), which has numbing properties similar to those of Chinese Sichuan peppercorns.[16]
In Korean cuisine, chopi is often used to accompany fish soups such as chueo-tang, whereas the plant's seeds are separated and used to make oil, and the oil is used as a medicine.
In the states of
Maharashtra,
Karnataka, and
Goa in Western
India, the dried berries of Zanthoxylum rhetsa are known as teppal or tirphal in
Marathi are added to foods such as legumes and fish. The name in both languages means 'three fruits' or 'three pods'.[20] Because the trees bear fruit during the
monsoon season, the berries are associated with the concurrent
Krishna Janmashtami festival.[21]
The fresh fruits are parrot green in color and are used as a flavouring agent in many curries made with a paste of coconut, chilis, and other spices. When dried, the flesh of the fruit hardens, turns a brownish black color and opens up to show the black seeds within. The seeds are discarded and the dried fruit is stored in containers for use around the year. Mostly used in fish preparations and a few vegetarian dishes, with coconut masala, this spice has a very strong woody aroma and is discarded at the time of eating the curry.
Chemistry
Plants in the genus Zanthoxylum contain the lignan
sesamin.
Zanthoxylum clava-herculisL. – Hercules' club, pepperbark, southern prickly ash, West Indian yellowwood (central and southeastern United States to eastern Mexico)
The genus Fagara has been sunk into Zanthoxylum, but as of September 2021[update], no name seemed to have been provided for the former Fagara externa, which was regarded as an unplaced name by
Plants of the World Online.[24]
References
^"Zanthoxylum L."TROPICOS. Missouri Botanical Garden.
Archived from the original on 2010-09-10. Retrieved 2010-02-26.
^
ab"Zanthoxylum". Plants of the World Online. Retrieved 16 August 2020.
^Thomas, Val; Grant, Rina (2001). Sappi tree spotting: Highlands: Highveld, Drakensberg, Eastern Cape mountains. illustrations: Joan van Gogh; photographs: Jaco Adendorff (3rd ed.). Johannesburg: Jacana. p. 260.
ISBN978-1-77009-561-8.
^Hartley, Thomas G. (2013). Wilson, Annette J.G. (ed.).
Flora of Australia (Volume 26). Canberra: Australian Biological Resources Study. p. 74. Retrieved 17 August 2020.
^Beurton, C. (1994). "Gynoecium and perianth in Zanthoxylum s.l. (Rutaceae)". Plant Systematics and Evolution. 189 (3–4): 165–191.
doi:
10.1007/bf00939724.
S2CID2655415.
^A review of the early Miocene Mastixioid flora of the Kristina Mine at Hrádek nad Nisou in North Bohemia, The Czech Republic, January 2012 by F. Holý, Z. Kvaček and Vasilis Teodoridis - ACTA MUSEI NATIONALIS PRAGAE Series B – Historia Naturalis • vol. 68 • 2012 • no. 3–4 • pp. 53–118
^Wilbur, C. Keith, MD. Revolutionary Medicine 1700-1800. The Globe Pequot Press. Page 23. 1980.
^Bharadwaj, Monisha (2006). Indian Spice Kitchen. Hippocrene Books. pp. 82–83.
ISBN978-0-7818-1143-9.
^"{title}".
Archived from the original on 2017-12-17. Retrieved 2017-05-18.
^The Nigerian Zanthoxylum; Chemical and biological values. S. K. Adesina, Afr. J. Trad. CAM, 2005, volume 2, issue 3, pages 282-301 (
articleArchived 2016-03-03 at the
Wayback Machine)
^"Fagara externa Skottsb". Plants of the World Online. Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. Retrieved 2021-09-13.