Medicinal aspects of areca catechu

One type of the areca nut is ‘Red Supari’. It is obtained by boiling and drying unripe dehusked nuts at different stages of maturity (Fig:1,2). The other type is the ‘White Supari’ which is obtained by mere drying of the ripe nuts and dehusking later on. Since ancient times, areca nut has been availed for chewing as it is believed to have medicinal properties, both in India and abroad. Areca nut is generally masticated or mashed as betel quid. It is a melange of areca nut, leaf or inflorescence of betel (Piper betle) vine and slaked lime. Some people also add the tobacco (Nicotiana tabacum), catechu (Acacia catechu) and certain sweeteners and condiments

1. MEDICINAL ASPECTS OF Areca catechu BY Dr. S.SREEREMYA FACULTY OF BIOLOGY

2. INTRODUCTION One type of the areca nut is ‘Red Supari ’. It is obtained by boiling and drying unripe dehusked nuts at different stages of maturity (Fig:1,2). The other type is the ‘White Supari ’ which is obtained by mere drying of the ripe nuts and dehusking later on. Since ancient times, areca nut has been availed for chewing as it is believed to have medicinal properties, both in India and abroad. Areca nut is generally masticated or mashed as betel quid. It is a melange of areca nut, leaf or inflorescence of betel (Piper betle ) vine and slaked lime. Some people also add the tobacco ( Nicotiana tabacum ), catechu (Acacia catechu) and certain sweeteners and condiments

3. Currently, the medicinal uses and properties of areca nut were investigated. It has enormous antioxidant, anti-inflammatory and analgesic, much of alkaloids like arecolin has ubnique properties like: anti-diabetic, hypolipidemic , anti-malaria, anti-aging, learning and memory improvement, wound healing, anti-ulcer, anti-migraine, antihypertensive, anti-depressant, anti-allergic, anthelmintic, aphrodisiac, hepato protective, cyto protective, anti-tumour etc. In spite of all these medicinal values of areca nut, its severe consumption or chewing may cause several adverse effects including carcinogenesis ( Aromdee Aromdee et al.,2003).

4. The key constituents of areca nut on the basis of dry weight are polyphenols, including flavonoids and tannins (up to 29.9%), polysaccharides (up to 25.8%), proteins (up to 9.7%), fats (up to 15.3%), fibers (up to 15.6%), alkaloids (up to 0.27%) and minerals (up to 2.6%). Several scientific reports have been written on antimicrobial properties of areca tannins, especially on microbes causing human diseases. An attempt has been made to understand and assess the available scientific literature on the antibacterial, antifungal, anti malarial and anti-HIV properties of areca nut.

5. ANTIBACTERIAL PROPERTIES Almost all parts of areca palm comprising its nuts, leaves and roots show good antibacterial properties. The hot water extract of areca nut was much effective against both gram negative and gram positive bacteria. The concentration needed for 100% inhibition of growth was reported to be 3.4 to 7 μg /ml for gram negative and 16 μg /ml for gram positive bacteria. Natural polyphenols encompassing tannins have been reported to be of medicinal importance. While preparing the ‘Red Supari ’ of areca nut

6. This liquid is generally wasted by farmers. Such by-product of areca nut was also reported and investigated to be antibacterial against Enterobacter aerogenes , Staphylococcus aureus , Escherichia coli and Bacillus subtilus . Hence, even a waste material like Chogaru could be availed for medicinal purposes. It was reported that the butanol fraction of areca nut was more and efficient potent than the methanol, ethylacetate , and water extract against four strains of bacteria such as S. aureus , S. aureus 2940, Streptococcus mutans and Mycobacterium smegmatis . The minimum inhibitory concentrations for these bacteria were 65, 100, 125, 250, and 250μg/ml, respectively. Properties

7. Chewing forms of arecanut Arecanut or betel nut is generally chewed along with other ingredients in four different forms: one wet type termed ‘betel quid’ and three other types are dry forms called ‘pan masala’, ‘ gutka ’ and ‘sweet supari ’. The constituents of the betel quid differ in various countries. It generally comprises ingredients such as the leaf of P. betle , slaked lime, catechu (Acacia catechu), certain spices, artificial sweeteners such as the saccharin and essences in different proportions. In countries such as Taiwan, Papua New Guinea, etc., instead of the leaf of P. betle its inflorescence, fruits or stem are availed in producing the quid.

8. The betel quid is either chewed mainly as such or chewed with the addition of a piece of tobacco ( Nicotiana tabacum ) as per individual preference (Jiang et al.,2009). Pan masala is a packaged form of chewing product typically containing arecanut , lime, catechu, condiments and certain flavoring agents and artificial sweeteners. Usually pan masala does not contain tobacco. When tobacco is mixed with pan masala it is called as gutka , zarda or khaini . Sweet supari is another form of the packaged arecanut which is processed and flavored . Which has its flavour, aroma and texture and is much famous in North India, All the dry forms of these chewing products are manufactured in large scale, industrially and available in market in small (four to five gram) sachets in different brand names.

9. Journal of Pharmacy and Medicinal Research, MEDICINAL ASPECTS OF Areca catechu , Dr.S.Sreeremya , 2019.Vol 1(1):1-13.