GUA: (Betel nut)
Areca catechu
Family: Palmae
Sanskrit name: Puga
Hindi name: Supari
Even now I remember
Wine on the lip
she innocently licked…
and her mouth spiced still
with camphor and areca.
~ Bilhana in Vikramadev Charita (twelfth century)
The areca, an elegant palm tree with sweet scented flowers crowned by a tuft of leaves, wears an orange-colored fruit about the size of an egg. The fruit contains the seeds, or areca nuts, known locally as supari, which are chewed as a mild intoxicant by Indians all over the subcontinent.
It is also a favorite Indian breath freshener and taken after meals by Indian nobility. The sixteenth-century Portuguese traveller and botanist, Garcia da Orta, even suggests the name of this breath freshener came from the aristocratic classes: “In Malabar . . . the Nairs [who are the gentlemen] call it areca.” Over the centuries a whole craft evolved around areca nutcrackers. Parakeets, lunging tigers, racing deer, all manner of animals and personalities are represented
on these nutcrackers. A man wishing to impress a woman broke a nut for her with nutcrackers in the shape of a close couple. A warrior’s nutcracker was in the shape of his steed or an attacking soldier.
But the habit of chewing areca nut crosses all class divisions. In fact, it has been calculated that the weight or areca nuts consumed every year in India is over 100,000 tons.
The dried areca nut is powdered and used as a dentifrice, forming the basis of many tooth powders in India and China. Ayurveda recommends burning the areca nut to charcoal and mixing this with a quarter part of powdered cinnamon to produce an excellent tooth powder. It also suggests a decoction made from the areca root as a cure for sore lips.
The main medical use of the areca nut is as an anti-helminthic, for expelling intestinal worms. Areca has performed this function in both India and China since ancient times. It is also thought to be effective against malaria. A Chinese name for the nut means anti-malarial panacea.
Excerpted from The Garden of Life by Naveen Patnaik.
Illustration: Photograph of a Areca-nut tree.
