Peppergrass

Other Names : Lepidium virginicum, Virginia pepperweed, poor man's pepper.
Found almost everywhere, peppergrass is a familiar plant that many consider an undesirable weed.Peppergrass can reach three feet high and has flowering stalks with jagged leaves. The plant also produces seed pods. The leaf, flower, pod and root are all edible, lending an intense spiced flavor that some compare with arugula. The leaves and flowers add an interesting accent to sauces, soups, salads and smoothies. Dried seed pods can be ground and used like black pepper whereas the root can be pulverized and mixed with vinegar as a substitute for horseradish. Recognizing such versatile value, ancient Incas cultivated peppergrass and Pliny wrote about it in 300 BCE.

Benefits and uses of Peppergrass are

• The leaves of wild pepper-grass are nutritious and generally detoxifying, they have been used to treat vitamin C deficiency and diabetes, and to expel intestinal worms.
• The herb is also diuretic and of benefit in easing rheumatic pain.
• North American Indians used the bruised fresh plant, or tea made from the leaves to treat poison ivy rash and scurvy. A poultice of the leaves was applied to the chest in the treatment of croup."
• Cancer : As part of the mustard family, peppergrass shares many similar anticancer attributes. The sharp taste of mustard seed is due to isothiocyanates and thiocyanates — compounds that demonstrate antibacterial, antifungal and anticarcinogenic properties.