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BETEL NUT

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Originally appearing in Volume V03, Page 828 of the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.
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BETEL See also:

NUT . The name betel is applied to two different See also:plants, which in the See also:East are very closely associated in the purposes to which they are applied. The betel nut is the See also:fruit of the Areca or betel See also:palm, Areca See also:Catechu, and the betel See also:leaf is the produce of the betel See also:vine or See also:pan, Chavica Betel, a plant allied to that which yields See also:black See also:pepper. The Areca palm is a native of the See also:Malay See also:Peninsula and Islands and is extensively cultivated over a wide See also:area in the East, including See also:southern See also:India, See also:Ceylon, See also:Siam, the Malay See also:Archipelago and the Philippine Islands. It is a graceful See also:tree with a straight, slender, unbranched See also:stem reaching 40 or 50 ft. in height and about 12 ft. in circumference, and bearing a See also:crown of 6–9 very large spreading pinnate fronds. The fruit is about the See also:size of a small See also:hen's See also:egg, and within its fibrous rind is the See also:seed or so-called nut, the albumen of which is very hard and has a prettily mcttled See also:grey and See also:brown See also:appearance. The See also:chief purpose for which betel nuts are cultivated and collected is for use as a masticatory their use in this See also:form being so widespread among See also:Oriental nations that it is estimated that one-tenth of the whole human See also:family indulge in betel chewing. For this use the fruits are annually gathered between the months of See also:August and See also:November, before they are quite ripe, and deprived of their husks. They are prepared by boiling in See also:water, cutting up into slices, and drying in the See also:sun, by which treatment the slices assume a dark brown or black See also:colour. When chewed a small piece is wrapped up in alleaf of the betel vine or pan, with a pellet of See also:shell See also:lime or chunam; and in some cases a little See also:cardamom, See also:turmeric or other aromatic is added. The mastication causes a copious flow of saliva of a See also:brick-red colour, which dyes the mouth, lips and gums. The See also:habit blackens the See also:teeth, but it is asserted by those addicted to it that it strengthens the gums, sweetens the breath and stimulates the See also:digestive See also:organs.

Among the Orientals betel is offered on ceremonial visits in the same manner as See also:

wine is produced on similar occasions by Europeans. Betel nuts are further used as a source of catechu, which is procured by boiling the nuts in water. The water of the first boiling becomes red and thick, and when this is inspissated after the removal of the nuts it forms a catechu of high astringency and dark colour called in Bombay ." Kossa." The nuts are again boiled, and the inspissated juice of the second decoction yields a weaker catechu of a brown or reddish colour. Betel nuts have been used by turners for ornamental purposes, and for coat buttons on See also:account of the beauty of their structure. At one See also:time they were supposed to be useful as a vermifuge. The nuts of other See also:species of Areca are used by the poorer classes in the East as substitutes for the genuine betel nut. The See also:alkaloid arecaidine, C7H11NO2, occurs in areca or betel nuts, together with three other alkaloids: arecoline, C8H12NO2, guvacine, CBH9NO2, and arecaine, C7HnNO2. Arecaidine forms See also:white crystals easily soluble in water, and difficultly soluble in See also:alcohol. Chemically it is methyl-tetrahydro-nicotinic See also:acid. Dehydration results in the formation of a " betaine," which is a tetrahydro-trigonelline (see BETAINE). Arecoline is an oil, and the physiological See also:action of the betel nut is alone due to this substance. Chemically it is the methyl ester of arecaidine.

Guvacine, named from " guvaca," an See also:

Indian designation of the betel palm, forms white crystals. It is a secondary See also:base, but its constitution is uncertain. Arecaine is n-methylguvacine.

End of Article: BETEL NUT

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