Authentic betel nut tastes bitter, but it is not the same as chewing with hibiscus and shell ash, and it is sweet. Areca nut can be eaten and chewed with brine. It is normal for the first chewer to face redness and chest tightness. Betel nut will damage the true qi if you take it for a long time, and it will drain the supreme qi if you take it too much, so it is not advisable to take it too much.

Chewing betel nut often, in addition to seriously damaging teeth, causing teeth to turn red and black, or even fall off early, there is a high risk of cancer. 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.

Extended data

Areca catechu is native to Malaysia, and it is mainly distributed in Southeast Asia, tropical Asia, East Africa and parts of Europe. It is mainly distributed in Papua New Guinea, Solomon Islands, Fiji, Vanuatu and Micronesia in the Pacific, and scattered in Pinape Island, American Mariana Islands and Marshall Islands. Areca catechu cultivation in Hawaii is only for viewing.

There are 36 varieties of areca catechu known in the world, and people in different regions have different classification methods for these cultivated species. For example, farmers in Hainan divide areca catechu into long-stemmed species and short-stemmed species according to inflorescence and fruiting conditions, and the yield, alkaloid types and contents, medicinal value and bio-ecological characteristics of different varieties of areca catechu are quite different.

Baidu Encyclopedia-Areca catechu (Primordial Palmae)