Sourcing of TiMOOD™

Timut pepper is a special Nepalese spice plant. Its nicknames are Nepalese Szechuan pepper or grapefruit pepper, as the peels taste and smell of citrus fruits.

Timur pepper grows at 1500 - 2500m in different regions of Nepal. The timut pepper for TiMOOD™ grows in the community of Simta (सिम्ता) in the southern edge of the Himalayas.

The farmers which cultivate the timut pepper are organized into community forest user groups (CFUGs). The CFUG in Simta is self-organized through an elected Working Committee. Besides Timut pepper, the farmers also plant and harvest laurel, soap nuts, oranges, vegetables and other fruits.

The trees with the timut berries are staggered in the landscape, there are no clearly defined field boundaries. No fertiliser, pesticides or irrigation are used for the cultivation.

After flowering in spring, the bushes form red berries. The harvest time is between November and January. Wild harvesting takes place in the midst of untouched nature: Pickers roam the mountain slopes and collect the ripe fruits by hand from the thorny plants. The manual picking from the tree is very time-consuming.

Timut pepper is traded as a rarity. Timut pepper has a labor-intensive processing: the hand-picked berries are separated from the remaining plant parts and dried in the sun for weeks.

Thanks to their zesty, grapefruit-like flavor, they are also used as a spice for traditional dishes.

Find out more about TiMOOD™, our neuroactive ingredient which makes you feel good and look good at the same time!