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piperine

American

[pip-uh-reen, -er-in] / ˈpɪp əˌrin, -ər ɪn /

noun

Chemistry.

a white, crystalline alkaloid, C 1 7 H 1 9 NO 3 , obtained from pepper and other piperaceous plants and also prepared synthetically: used as an insecticide.

piperine British

/ ˈpɪpəˌraɪn, -rɪn /

noun

a crystalline insoluble alkaloid that is the active ingredient of pepper, used as a flavouring and as an insecticide. Formula: C 17 H 19 NO 3

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Etymology

Origin of piperine

1810–20; < Latin piper pepper + -ine ¹

Example Sentences

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See Examples For:

piperine

Plant-based supplements containing quercetin, curcumin, and piperine improved fatigue compared with placebo.

From Science Daily ● Jan. 8, 2026

Some commercial supplements are formulated with both curcumin and piperine.

From Seattle Times ● Jan. 11, 2023

Because the fruit has been stripped of its outer layer of flesh, which contains the piperine compound, white peppercorns are not as peppery.

From Washington Post ● Feb. 11, 2022

Regarded as the world's most traded spice, black pepper gets its spicy warmth from a compound called piperine.

From Salon ● Jan. 11, 2022

We also owe much of our knowledge of the alkaloid piperine to Fittig, who in collaboration with Ira Remsen established its constitution in 1871.

From Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 10, Slice 4 "Finland" to "Fleury, Andre" by Various

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023