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| Areca catechu | ||||||||||||||||
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 Fruiting specimen
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| Areca catechu L.1 |
Areca catechu is the areca palm or areca nut palm, (Malay: Pinang), a species of palm which grows in much of the tropical Pacific, Asia, and parts of east Africa.
This palm is often erroneously called the betel tree because its fruit, the areca nut, is always chewed along with the betel leaf, a leaf from a vine of the Piperaceae family.
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Growth
It is a medium-sized and graceful palm tree growing straight to 20 m tall, with a trunk 20-30 cm in diameter. The leaves are 1.5-2 m long, pinnate, with numerous, crowded leaflets. It is also known as Puga in Sanskrit, Supari in Marathi.
Characteristics
Areca catechu is grown for its economically important seed crop, the areca nut. The seed contains alkaloids such as arecaine and arecoline, which when chewed is intoxicating and is also slightly addictive. Areca palms are grown in India, Malaysia, Taiwan and many other Asian countries for their seeds.
Etymology
Penang Island, off the west coast of Peninsular Malaysia, Fua Mulaku in the Maldives and Guwahati in Assam, India, are some of the places named after a local name for areca nut.
Uses
The Areca palm is also used as an interior landscaping species. It is often used in large indoor areas such as malls and hotels. It won't fruit or reach full size. Indoors it is a slow growing, low water, high light plant that is sensitive to spider mite and occasionally mealy bug. The areca nut is also popular for chewing throughout some Asian countries such as Taiwan, Vietnam, Philippine, Malaysia, and India. Chewing areca nut is quite popular among working classes in Taiwan. The nut itself can be addictive and has direct link to mouth cancers. Areca nut in Taiwan will usually contain artificial additives such as limestone powder.
The extract of Areca catechu has been shown to have antidepressant properties,2 but it may be addictive.3
References
- ^ "Areca catechu information from NPGS/GRIN". www.ars-grin.gov. Retrieved on 2008-03-02.
- ^ "Wiley InterScience: Journal: Abstract". www3.interscience.wiley.com. Retrieved on 2008-03-02.
- ^ "The Psychopharmacology of Herbal ... - Google Book Search". books.google.com. Retrieved on 2008-03-03.
External links
- Plant Cultures: Betelnut botany and history
- Photos of The fruit of Areca catechu
- Areca catechu List of Chemicals (Dr. Duke's)
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Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Areca catechu |
Gallery
 thumb|160px|left|An Areca catechu plantation in Taiwan |
 Areca Palm at Kolkata, West Bengal, India |
 Areca Palm at Kolkata, West Bengal, India |
 Areca Palm Fruit at Kolkata,India |
 Areca nuts from India |
 Flora de Filipinas |
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