Areca catechu BETEL PALM (3 seeds)

Betel palm, areca nut or Areca catechu in Latin is a palm tree native to India and Malaysia.
It is now found also in South America and the Caribbean.
Areca catechu belongs to the genus Areca.

The large Areca nut seeds known as areca nuts are used to make chewable betel, traditionally consumed in much of Asia.
Betel palm has very interesting therapeutic properties.

Active ingredients contained in this seed are alkaloids.
The most important are arecaine and arecoline which are comparable to nicotine (Mapacho tobacco) for their stimulating, appetite suppressant and slightly exhilarating effects on the brain.

While chewing betel for its stimulating properties is an integral part of many Asian cultures, the preparation techniques show regional differences and have evolved in the twentieth century.

The big areca nut is either minced or grated, often scented with spices then mixed with calcium oxide and since the colonial period sometimes with tobacco.
The whole thing is usually wrapped in a Piper betle leaf and improperly called betel.
Lime acts as a catalyst.
Arec contains arecoline, an alkaloid that promotes salivation.
Walnut colors saliva red and teeth orange.
Traditionally, after twenty minutes of chewing, the consumer spits out what's left of the class.

Sowing of areca nut seeds:

Start by scarifying your betel palm seeds with sandpaper and then soaking your seeds for 24 hours in warm water.
To finish, bury your seeds of Areca catechu under 1 cm of peat in pots of 10 X 10 cm and place all under a greenhouse of at least 30 to 35 ° c.

Caution, do not consume.
Grow this ethnobotanical palm for the collection or as an exotic and tropical plant.