Telangana farmers pushed to suicide after pest attack destroys chilli crop

There has been no announcement on compensation to farmers who have lost their crops

COVID-19: Spice growers of Tamil Nadu, Kerala face looming crisis

With roads leading to plantations shut, spice cultivation has been badly hit

Global Eco Watch: Chinese pink dolphin numbers rise in Pearl river estuary

Down To Earth brings you the top happenings in the world of global ecology

Coca Cola, Pepsi and Snapple to cut 20% calories in beverages over 10 years

Move follows widespread public concern about increasing obesity in the US

Science and Technology - Briefs

Black pepper: Healthy or not?

Modern science suggests that black pepper does indeed confer health benefits, mainly as a result of an alkaloid called piperine

Pepper spray: Why it is so dangerous

Corneal abrasions and ulcers are not rare events when patients are exposed to pepper spray, suggest studies

Indian scientists find a way to enhance fat-burning capacity of chilli

Capsaicin, an active ingredient of chilli, is known to have anti-obesity or fat reducing properties

Black pepper may hold the key for Corona fighting drug: Study

Piperine, an alkaloid present in pepper, could bind to novel coronavirus proteins and stop it from entering human cells, says IIT (ISM) study

The fiery flavours of stem pepper

The pepper species, relatively unexplored, is restricted to a few pockets in West Bengal

Alkaloid from black pepper shows promising results against neurological disorder

Piperine can be used as therapeutic agent Fragile X-associated tremor/ataxia syndrome 

Stop importing black pepper, it’s causing price crash: growers to Centre

Despite a ban on sale of pepper under Rs 500 per kg, its price has dipped to Rs 335 per kg owing to imports from Vietnam, Sri Lanka

Hot pepper genome decoded

Study opens doors for creating better varieties, with different nutritional values and flavours

EU may ban import of betel leaves, lady's finger, chilli peppers

European Union’s food safety regulatory body issued 111 notifications related to pesticide residue on produce from India

Verifying viral virus truths: Tomatoes, tiranga and TRPs

The media wrongly claimed a correlation between a mysterious alleged new virus that targets tomatoes to the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19)