How are areca nuts used?
The most common method of using areca nut is to slice the nut into thin strips and roll them in a betel leaf (from the Piper betle) with slaked lime (powder) or crushed sea shells. This leaf package is generally referred to as a “betel quid”, or a “betel nut chew”, “betel chew”, betel pan (India) or betel paan (India). Betel quids may also contain tobacco and other additives such as cloves, cardamom, nutmeg, aniseed, coconut, sugar, syrups and fruit extracts, to enhance the flavour. Sometimes areca nuts are rolled in leaves other than betel leaf, such as a leaf from the rubiaceous plant (Mitrogyna speciosa), nutmeg tree (Myristica fragrans), or the pepper plant used in kava (Piper methysticum). In countries in which areca nut and betel quid chewing are indigenous, these practices have traditionally played an important role in social customs, religious practices and cultural rituals. In some countries the areca nut can be purchased as a refined product containing a wide variety of areca
