Areca catechu originated in Malaysia, and it is mainly distributed in tropical areas such as Yunnan, Hainan and Taiwan Province provinces in China, and is widely cultivated in tropical Asia.
Areca catechu is an important Chinese herbal medicine. Some ethnic minorities in the south still use it as a chewing hobby, but it is a carcinogen in the list of carcinogens of the International Agency for Research on Cancer 1 of the World Health Organization.
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There are 36 varieties of betel nut known in the world, and people in different regions have different classification methods for these cultivated varieties. For example, farmers in Hainan divide areca catechu into long-stem species and short-stem species according to inflorescence and fruiting conditions, and the yield, alkaloid types and contents, medicinal value and biological and ecological characteristics of different varieties of areca catechu are quite different.
Country of origin
Areca catechu originated in Malaysia, mainly distributed in Southeast Asia, tropical Asia, East Africa and parts of Europe. Mainly distributed in Papua New Guinea, Solomon Islands, Fiji, Vanuatu and Micronesia in the Pacific Ocean, with sporadic distribution in Pinape Island, American Mariana Islands and Marshall Islands. Betel nuts in Hawaii are grown just for viewing.
Growth habit
Areca catechu is a warm and humid positive plant, and likes high temperature, rainy and humid climate.
They are usually distributed in low mountain valleys, under ridges, under hillsides and secondary forests in tropical monsoon forest near Pingyuan Creek, and also grow in valleys, hills, sparse forests and barren hills with slightly acidic to neutral sandy loam.
Mainly distributed between 28 degrees north and south latitude, the optimum temperature is 10-36℃, the lowest temperature is not lower than 10℃, the highest temperature is not more than 40℃, the altitude is 0- 1000m, and the annual rainfall is 1700-2000mm.
The harm of betel nut
As early as 2003, the International Center for Research on Cancer under the World Health Organization had identified betel nut as a first-class carcinogen.
Modern research shows that oral cancer is probably caused by long-term chewing betel nut.
According to experts, people in Taiwan Province Province love eat areca, and the local health department reported that the number of patients with oral cancer in Taiwan Province Province increased nearly three times in 10, and 90% of them chewed betel nut for a long time.
Areca catechu contains a large number of cytotoxic substances, and the oral mucosa reacts with alkaloids contained in Areca catechu, which will lead to oral mucosal fibrosis and leukoplakia.
These are precancerous lesions of oral cavity, and the clinical manifestations are difficulty in opening mouth, numbness and ulcer.
Besides betel nut, tobacco and alcohol are also closely related to oral cancer. At the same time, people who chew betel nut, smoke and drink alcohol are at great risk of oral cancer.
Experts warned that eat areca is not good for health, and citizens should control the amount of eat areca.
People who have the habit of chewing betel nut should go to the hospital in time to check if there are signs such as chronic oral ulcers, white spots and dark spots on the oral mucosa, and rule out the possibility of cancer.
Canceration is just one of the most serious hazards of chewing betel nut.
Experts pointed out that calcium-containing betel nut and betel nut juice are easy to form stones when soaked in the mouth for a long time, and rough betel nut may also induce a variety of periodontal diseases.
Chewing betel nut often will seriously damage teeth, lead to red and black teeth, seriously affect the appearance, and even fall off early.
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