Areca Nut

The nut from Areca catechu, a palm indigenous to Southeast Asia, is an important crop in southern Burma. It is wrapped in a pepper leaf along with slaked lime and often other flavors (for example, tobacco, cassia, or sweet coconut) and chewed as a stimulant, especially by people in the countryside. In English the wad is often called “betel nut.” The teeth and lips of habitual users are stained dark red, a result of the active ingredients in the areca nuts that are released by the lime.