Zanthoxylum is a genus of about 250 species of deciduous and evergreen trees, shrubs and climbers in the family Rutaceae 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. 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.

Taxonomy

The genus Zanthoxylum was first formally described in 1753 by Carl Linnaeus in the first volume of Species Plantarum. The generic name is derived from Ancient Greek words, meaning 'yellow', and , 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. The first species that Linnaeus described was Zanthoxylum trifoliatum, now regarded as a synonym of Eleutherococcus trifoliatus. The once separate genus Fagara is now included in Zanthoxylum.

Fossil record

28 fossil seeds of the extinct Zanthoxylum kristinae, from the early Miocene, have been found in the Kristina Mine at Hrádek nad Nisou in North Bohemia, the Czech Republic.

Uses

Many Zanthoxylum species make excellent bonsai and in temperate climates they can be grown quite well indoors. Zanthoxylum beecheyanum and Zanthoxylum piperitum are two species commonly grown as bonsai.

Culinary use

Spices are made from a number of species in this genus, including:

Andaliman

In Indonesia's North Sumatra province, Zanthoxylum acanthopodium is harvested for andaliman. In Indonesian Batak cuisine, andaliman is ground and mixed with chilies and seasonings into a green sambal or chili paste. Arsik is a typical Indonesian dish containing andaliman.

and

Zanthoxylum piperitum is harvested in Japan and Korea to produce (山椒) or (초피), which has numbing properties similar to those of Chinese Sichuan peppercorns. In Korean cuisine, is often used to accompany fish soups such as, whereas the plant's seeds are separated and used to make oil, and the oil is used as a medicine.

Sancho

The Korean is made from Zanthoxylum schinifolium, which is slightly less bitter than. In Korean cuisine, is often used to accompany fish soups such as.

Sichuan pepper

The fruit of Zanthoxylum armatum and Zanthoxylum bungeanum species is used to make Sichuan pepper by grinding the husks that surround the berries.

Triphal and teppal

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'. Because the trees bear fruit during the monsoon season, the berries are associated with the concurrent Krishna Janmashtami festival. 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. Species identified in Nigeria contains several types of alkaloids including benzophenanthridines (nitidine, dihydronitidine, oxynitidine, fagaronine, dihydroavicine, chelerythrine, dihydrochelerythrine, methoxychelerythrine, norchelerythrine, oxychelerythrine, decarine and fagaridine), furoquinolines (dictamine, 8-methoxydictamine, skimmianine, 3-dimethylallyl-4-methoxy-2-quinolone), carbazoles (3-methoxycarbazole, glycozoline), aporphines (berberine, tembetarine, magnoflorine, M-methyl-corydine), canthinones (6-canthinone), acridones (1-hydroxy-3-methoxy-10-methylacridon-9-one, 1-hydroxy-10-methylacridon-9-one, zanthozolin), and aromatic and aliphatic amides. Hydroxy-alpha sanshool is a bioactive component of plants from the genus Zanthoxylum, including the Sichuan pepper.

Ecology

Zanthoxylum species are used as food plants by the larvae of some Lepidoptera species including the engrailed (Ectropis crepuscularia).

Species list

The following is a list of species accepted by Plants of the World Online as of August 2020:

Doubtful species

The genus Fagara has been sunk into Zanthoxylum, but, 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.