Black pepper is a bushy climber plant that is useful for treating many common ailments in Indian homes. Its fruit is green when raw, reddish when ripe, and black and shriveled when dried. Black pepper has many medicinal uses such as suppressing cough, drying phlegm, treating respiratory afflictions, curing hoarseness, and relieving seasonal allergies. It can also be used as an appetite stimulant, treatment for skin ailments, and brain tonic when consumed in small amounts regularly with foods like milk, ghee, or sugar.