Grains of paradise

Grains of paradise, also called melegueta pepper, Guinea grains, ossame, or fom wisa, is a plant from the ginger family and a close relative of cardamom. Its seeds—used whole or ground—taste pungent and peppery, with a hint of citrus. It is sometimes mistaken for alligator pepper, and the names "African pepper" and "Guinea pepper" can also refer to other spices, like grains of Selim. In Cameroon, it is called jujube, but this should not be confused with the fruit of the jujube tree. This herbaceous perennial grows in swampy areas along the West African coast. It has trumpet-shaped purple flowers that produce pods 5–7 cm long, filled with small reddish-brown seeds. The seeds’ heat comes from aromatic ketones like (6)-paradol; essential oils, which give cardamom its flavor, are only present in trace amounts. The stem is often short and marked with scars from dropped leaves. The narrow leaves resemble bamboo, with a well-organized vascular system. The flowers are aromatic, with an orange lip and a rich pinkish-orange upper part. Melegueta is a major component in the diet of Western Lowland gorilla—around 80 to 90 percent. The gorillas eat the entire fruit and act as a source of seed dispersal for melegueta. In addition to food, the plant is the most common material used to make nests and beds. In West and North Africa, melegueta pepper is a common cooking spice. It was traditionally carried by camel caravans across the Sahara to Sicily and the rest of Italy. Pliny the Elder mentioned it as "African pepper," but it was later forgotten in Europe. It was renamed "grains of paradise" and became a popular black pepper substitute in the 14th and 15th centuries. The Ménagier de Paris recommended it for wine that "smells stale." During the Middle Ages and early modern period, doctors and herbalists followed the theory of the four humors; John Russell wrote in The Boke of Nurture that grains of paradise were "hot and moist."

In 1469, King Afonso V of Portugal gave Lisbon merchant Fernão Gomes a monopoly on trade in the Gulf of Guinea, including exclusive rights to Aframomum melegueta—then called malagueta pepper. The deal cost 100,000 real per year and required exploring 160 km of African coast annually for five years, showing the spice’s European value.