Health Benefits of Betel Nut
Arecaceae (Arecoideae), palm family
Common names;betel nut palm, areca, areca-nut (English); pugua (Guam), poc (Pohnpei), pu (Chuuk), bu (Yap), bua (Palau), buai(New Ireland: Kuanua), buei (New Ireland: Pala), vua (New Ireland: Lamekot)
Betel nut (Areca catechu) is a slender, single-trunked palm that can grow to 30 m (100 ft). It is cultivated from East Africa and the Arabian Peninsula across tropical Asia and Indonesia to the central Pacific and New Guinea. The “nut” (actually the seed endosperm) is chewed as a stimulant masticatory by 5% of the world’s population, making it more popular than chewing gum but not as popular as tobacco. Use of betel nut is often culturally or socially ritualized, and there are elaborate ceremonies attending its use in various Asian and Pacific cultures. At the same time, betel chewing is stigmatized by Western cultures that find the red saliva and blackened teeth resulting from regular use (not to mention the spitting out of the copious red saliva) to be esthetically disgusting.
The nuts, husks, young shoots, buds, leaves, and roots are used in various medicinal
preparations.
The fresh or dried endosperm of the seed is the betel nut of commerce. The betel quid (wad of chewable ingredients) includes the fresh or dried seed of betel nut, a fresh leaf of betel pepper (Piper betle), a dab of slaked lime, and various flavorings (cutch, cardamom, clove, tobacco, or gambier). Eight closely related alkaloids are responsible for the stimulant effect; the alkaloid levels are highest in the unripe fruit and this may be why some cultures prefer the unripe nuts for consumption: they give a better buzz. Note that when chewed for the stimulant effect betel quid is never swallowed and the copious saliva resulting is spat out..However, when used medicinally betel nut may be taken internally. One of its effects is a powerful stimulus to intestinal peristalsis; betel nut is used to treat a long list of ailments. The Indian pan (pronounced pon) is a common after dinner treat, acting against post-meal lethargy and as a digestif.
The fragrant flowers are used in weddings and funerals in some SE Asian countries.
Timber
The trunks of culled trees provide a source of construction material. Either split or whole they are used for rafters and for wattle in house construction; they are used in constructing elaborate crematory and temporary structures.
Fuelwood
Fallen fronds, bracts, inflorescences could be used for fuel; culled trees could be used as firewood. In practice, the husks removed from the fruits during processing are used as domestic fuel after drying.
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