Areca nut: “A drug of Use”

Some memories never fade. They make you smile and still have that fresh essence. Five year old me sitting next to my grandfather and staring him with my big saucer eyes, watching him expertly shredding a Betel Nut. The desire to have my share in it always ended up with a reply- “Sita Ram… Sita Ram… Kids must not have this, else your head will start swinging.” He kept mumbling and meanwhile the betel nut soon vanished into his mouth. Alas! I never got my share until for the time when my mother badly scolded me for evolving this crave for “supari”.
Why did she restrain me? What made supari to endure this abuse? Something which gained prevalence for its sake is now being disgraced.

In India, the way of living life is what we call its Sanskriti. The food we eat, the clothes we wear, the language we speak and the god we worship are all various aspects of our Sanskriti. It can be defined as the embodiment of the way in which we think and do things. Indian Sanskriti is one of the most ancient amongst all. Unlike other cultures which were destroyed with time, Indian culture is still alive. It had been a Worldwide source of inspiration to all. This blog is all about one such popular cultural practice- The practice of chewing betel nut which in recent times have led to many health issues. But before this, lets first have an insight into Areca nut’s prevalence in ancient history.

Areca nut and Indian Sanskriti

The complimentary pair of betel nut (Supari) and betel leaf (paan) entered India during early Gupta Period and merged into our Sanskriti. Their popularity increased steadily and became a commodity of common use. Their use varied from masticatory to medicinal. In India it received importance because of its use in rituals, ceremonies and as an integral part of dakshina for priests. The presence of areca nut and betel leaf was regarded as auspicious symbol of hospitality and denoted moral, social and legal commitment. Then and now, areca nut has managed to gain its importance in every religious ceremony as an offering to God. Still in many regions of India, Betel nut is linked symbolically to the Hindu Trinity- Areca nut to Brahma (the creator), Betel leaf to Vishnu (the preserver) and Lime to Shiva (the destroyer).

The Pride of Northeastern India

Some call it Kwai and for some it is Tamul. But the sentiment resonates evenly all over northeastern states. The romance of betel chewing is widely prevalent in Assam. In Assam, for instance, even a wedding is incomplete without betel nut. If an invitation for wedding comes without Tamul, it conveys that the hosts are not very keen on your presence. In every Assamese house Tamul is served on small platter to guests along with fresh betel leaves, which is very pleasing to the eye. During Bhogali bihu, which is a harvest festival of Assam, betel nut has its defined place. This age-old tradition is still followed by the Assamese even to this day.

Have you ever thought why the consumption rate of Betel nut in India is so high? Is this because they have real knowledge about its medicinal importance? In my opinion, it had never been for medicinal reasons. The human mind is always fascinated by the forbidden. We the youth of this country had only known betel nut for its negative role. But will it be fair if i conclude it this early. Every coin has two opposite faces and hence, has to be addressed equally in both aspects. Now let us familiarize you to some biological significance of areca nut:-

Biological significance of Areca Nut:

The Areca nut has been known for a long time for its narcotic-analgesic, sedative and antidepressant properties. In rural communities and regions where there is a food deficit, it is used as an appetite suppressant.

Areca nut contains several alkaloids belonging to the pyridine group. One such important alkaloid is arecoline. Other alkaloids present are arecaidine, arecolidine, guvacine, guvacoline, isoguvacine, norarecaidine and norarecoline.

• Anti-nematodal/helmintic activity:- The antinematodal activity of some tropical rainforest plants against the pinewood nematode, Bursaphelenchus xylophilus have been evaluated. Areca nut being one such plant exhibited very strong activity at minimum effective dose of 0.7 mg/cotton ball.
• Anti oxidant activity:- Methanolic extract of Areca nut showed anti-aging and strong scavenging activity against super-oxide anion radical.
• Areca nut in management of Psychiatric disorders and Alzheimer’s disease:- Arecoline present in areca nut has been used to treat both depression and schizophrenia. Arecoline has been used to treat patients with Alzheimer’s prehensile dementia.
• Anti-venom activity:- Tannins from plants are used as antidote of snake venom, which interact with snake enzyme systems. Areca nut had experimentally been confirmed for showing inhibitory activities against Naja kaouthia venom.

Abuse and Exploitation

Some of the probable reasons for its abuse are:-

• Oral toxicity/cancer:- Use of areca nut is associated with a number of important oral disorders including leukoplakia, oral submucous fibrosis (OSF), oral squamous cell carcinoma and pharyngeal carcinoma. The incidence of oral cancer is high in Asia, where a high proportion of the population has areca nut habits. Areca nut chewing causes 9.9 times more risk of developing oral cancer than no-chewers.
• Effects on sperm motility and cyclooxygenase-2 expression:- It has been reported that sperm motility significantly decreases after arecoline treatment. Arecoline induces the cyclooxygenase-2 expression of sperm cells. Cyclooxygenase-2 expression in human sperms, results in inflammation response thus reducing the flagellar motion of sperm.
• Immunosuppression, hepatotoxicity and depression of antioxidant status:- It has been reported that arecoline arrests splenic lymphocyte cell cycle at lower concentration with induced apoptosis at higher concentration there by causing immunosuppression. Arecoline depresses the hepatocytes by decreasing its nuclear size, inflating the cisternae of RER and increasing the level of lipids. Arecoline also caused depression of antioxidants, i.e., Superoxide Dismutase (SOD), catalase, reduced glutathione (GSH) and Glutathione-S-Transferase (GST) that are known to neutralize reactive oxygen species.

Take your call

Finally coming to the conclusion part of our blog. We, in no way wish to lead people into chewing the nut or defending it irrespective of its negative impacts. But, we do intend to create a social as well as biological awareness. Its very inappropriate to classify things straight into black and white. Sometimes, its wise to consider the best of both and accept it as grey. Areca nut, for long has been used as an ethnic product in northeastern India. However, the same (consumption and spitting of paan/gutka) has been the reason for cultivation of infectious diseases in states like Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Jharkhand and others. Consumption of a substance in a marginalised ratio can be extremely beneficial; however, abusing the same can lead to a non-curable disease, which in our case, is generally cancer. Areca nut deserves more attention by scientific community and public health specialists to explore its full range of benefits in the welfare of the society.