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Areca catechu

Betel Nut

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1. Areca catechu names: Back to top

Family: Arecaceae

Subfamily: Arecoideae

Tribe: Areceae

Subtribe: Arecinae

Botanical Name: Areca catechu L.

Extensions:

English Name(s): Betel Nut, Areca palm, Pinang

Synonyms:

Related Species:

. Let's Do the Betel Nut Chew - Taiwanese Style: Back to top

The betel nut chew is famous in Taiwan, perhaps not only for its popularity, but also the pretty ladies that sell it in road side stalls. No betel nut internet search is without pretty young Taiwanese girls in skimpy outfits selling betel nut on the road side. In Taiwan betel is incredibly common, even more so than 7-11, and one does not need to go far to find a vendor, or a farm.

In Taiwan, betel nut is used for a few reasons, mostly for its social appeal (physical appeal, it's not so pretty to talk with chewers) as it makes people more energetic and often quite chatty and upbeat. It is also used for its nice stimulant effects much liek coffee or ephedra. the advantage with betel nut chewing is that, in moderation, one rarely gets teh negative sideaffects one often associates with coffee (ie. headaches). Care must be taken though as some people do get nausea, sometimes quite badly, from chewing too much. Everyhting in moderation, ya?

Preparation of betel nuts is done with immature, small seeds taken from the tree, Areca catechu. Mature large seeds are never used becasue tehy become incredibly hard and impossible to chew without breaking out all your teeth. Small immature seeds are still quite soft and require little effort to chew up. Whole seeds are used, with the seed coat which is a fibrous green coating roughly 0.5cm thick wih the seed inside. The seeds, or nuts as we shall call them from now on, are wrapped in the leaf of a tropical vine, Piper betel. A single leaf is folded into a long strip which is painted with a little edible lime and wrapped around the betel nut. The lime is used for 2 reasons: absorbtion through the skin, and also acts as a glue between the nut and the leaf.

Once wrapped up, the finsihed betel nut is placed into a bag and refrigerated until sold. One should note that seed sused in cultivation are much larger, 4x, and also turn yellow when mature. These are unsuitable for chewing fresh as tehy are incredibly hard, although in some regions (such as India) they used the dried nuts from mature seeds adn cut the inner seed up to chew dry. This method, although common, is much rougher and more unpleasant than fresh betel nut.

. Areca catechu chemistry: Back to top

Please note: Some chemicals may not be listed and some may or may not be toxic. Do not consume plants based on this table, it only gives a general idea of *some* of the chemicals this plant contains.