Areca Nut

The areca nut, also called betel nut, is the seed of the palm Areca catechu. The palm is native to the Philippines and was carried widely through the tropics by the Austronesian migrations and trade since at least 1500 BCE, because of its use in betel chewing. It is now naturalised across much of the tropical Pacific, South Asia, Southeast Asia and parts of east Africa. Botanically the nut is not a true nut but the seed of a berry. It is sold dried, cured and fresh: green-husked nuts are soft enough to cut with a knife, while ripe ones harden to a wood-like consistency and need a special cutter. For chewing, slices are wrapped in a betel leaf (Piper betle) with slaked lime, and may include clove, cardamom or catechu resin. The word areca comes from Dravidian languages. Chewing has been practised for thousands of years by roughly 600 million people, and it carries serious health risks.