The Areca nut (/ˈærɪkə/ or /əˈriːkə/) or betel nut is the fruit of the areca palm (Areca catechu), which grows in much of the tropical Pacific (Melanesia and Micronesia), South Asia, Southeast Asia, and parts of east Africa. It is not to be confused with betel (Piper betle) leaves that are often used to wrap it.
The practice of chewing the nut together with other herbs as a psychoactive drug, dates back thousands of years in south and southeast Asia, and continues to the present day in many countries.
Australasia and Oceania[edit]
In Papua New Guinea (PNG) and the Solomon Islands, fresh areca nut, betel leaf (daka in PNG), and lime are sold on street corners. In these countries, dried or flavoured areca nut is not popular.[citation needed]
Betel nuts in PNG are referred to in Tok Pisin as buai, and grow abundantly on the northern coast, in Wewak and Madang.[1] A controversial ban on selling and chewing betel nut in public places in Port Moresby, introduced in 2014 by the governor, was lifted in 2017. Because the popular nut continued to be smuggled in, prices rose dramatically. Police enforced the ban over-rigorously, and in 2015 two betel nut sellers died in Hanuabada after police reservists fired on a crowd.[2] The governor of Port Moresby introduced another ban on the nut, restricted to an area in the business district of the city in July 2023. However many people make a living out of selling betel nut, so are resistant to bans in their areas.[3] On Manus Island, young men are exposed to piracy when they use small boats to travel to the northern coast to purchase betel nuts to trade, and several have disappeared.Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; invalid names, e.g. too many
| Country | Tonnes (2017) |
|---|---|
 India |
723,000 |
 Myanmar |
147,524 |
 Indonesia |
136,837 |
 Bangladesh |
119,039 |
 Taiwan |
102,165 |
| World | 1,337,115 |
| Source: FAOSTAT, United Nations[4] | |
References[edit]
- ↑ Swanston, Tim; Gunga, Theckla (5 October 2023). "Families from PNG's Manus province are losing their loved ones to the betel nut trade, with piracy posing a deadly risk". ABC News. Retrieved 2 November 2023.
- ↑ Blades, Johnny (5 May 2017). "Betel nut ban lifted in PNG capital". RNZ. Retrieved 2 November 2023.
- ↑ Evans, Kyle (5 July 2023). "Port Moresby Governor launches new attempt to ban betelnut" (audio + text). ABC Pacific. Retrieved 2 November 2023.
- ↑ Cite error: Invalid
<ref>tag; no text was provided for refs namedfaostat17
 |
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Areca nut. |
