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betel

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be·tel

(bē'tl),
The dried leaves of Piper betle (family Piperaceae), a climbing East Indian plant; used as a stimulant and narcotic. Betel nut is chopped and then wrapped in a strip of Piper betel leaf to make a small packet known as a buyo. Used as wrappers for spiced minced meat in southeast Asian cooking or for raw spices in India.
[Pg. betel, betle, fr. Malayalam or Tamil vetilla]
Farlex Partner Medical Dictionary © Farlex 2012

betel

An Indian climbing plant, Piper betle , the leaves of which are wrapped round the nut of the Areca palm and chewed with lime for their salivatory effect. Betel is chewed by a tenth of the world's population. The chief alkaloid is arecoline, a PARASYMPATHOMIMETIC drug. Betel itself is probably harmless but the lime used with it causes cancer of the mouth. In some areas betel chewing accounts for 20% of all cancers.
Collins Dictionary of Medicine © Robert M. Youngson 2004, 2005

be·tel

(bētĕl)
Dried leaves of Piper betle used as a stimulant and narcotic.
[Pg. betel, betle, fr. Malayalam or Tamil vetilla]
Medical Dictionary for the Dental Professions © Farlex 2012
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References in periodicals archive
Lei D et al showed in vitro nitrogen oxide scavenging effect in the hydroalcoholic extract of the betel leaf. [8]
No wonder a betel leaf in Pakistan costs over ` 20- 30 depending on the availability in the market.
Besides, with youths including women getting addicted to smoking and drinking, such cases are expected to increase among these populations unless controlled otherwise." Abdulkader also said that many schoolchildren are getting addicted to suwayka and another chewable tobacco derivative called betel leaf and areca nut.
So it was less the extravagance than the visual splendour of gilded sweets or sheermal flatbread or evenpaan (aromatic whole spices folded in a betel leaf) that amused the jaded eye of the maharajahs in whose courts the practice evolved.
The mill in eastern Orissa state has been delayed by criticism it would ruin lives of thousands of poverty-stricken people, who say the plant will disrupt their betel leaf plantations and forest-based livelihoods.
Finally he takes readers to the Sylhet region for small-scale betel leaf agroforestry and linkages between livelihoods of forest villagers and forest conservation.
Pakistan, June 07 -- Gone are the days when paan (betel leaf) chewing belonged to only Urdu speaking people (Muhajir and Memon), now it is popular among all.
The assault on the betel leaf could be seen as a curious choice as Dubai's faces far more serious troubles after the global recession crashed the boomtown's party and left many construction sites idle and foreign workers packing up.
Commonly, betel leaf (from the vine Piper betle L), areca nut (the fruit of Areca catechu L), lime (from seashells), gambir (a preparation from the leaves and twigs of the shrub Uncaria gambir), and shredded tobacco are included.
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