Paan and Betel leaves

Display of the items usually included in a chewing session. The betel leaves are folded in different ways according to the country and have mostly some Calcium hydroxide daubed inside. Slices of the dry areca nut are on the upper left hand and slices of the tender areca nut on the upper right. The pouch on the lower right contains tobacco, a relatively recent introduction.

Paan, from the word pan in Urdu, پان, and Hindi, पान, is a South, East and South East Asian tradition which consists of chewing Betel leaf (Piper betle) combined with the areca nut. There are many regional variations.

Paan is chewed as a palate cleanser and a breath freshener.
It is also commonly offered to guests and visitors as a sign of hospitality and as an "ice breaker" to start conversation.
It also has a symbolic value at ceremonies and cultural events in south and southeast Asia.
Paan makers may use mukhwas or tobacco as an ingredient in their paan fillings.
Although most types of paan contain areca nuts as a filling, some do not.
Other types include what is called sweet paan, where sugar, candied fruit and fennel seeds are used.

Areca nut is often mistakenly translated in the English language as "Betel nut", a misnomer, for the betel vine has no nuts. This name originated with the fact that the betel leaf is chewed along with the areca nut, the seed of the tropical palm Areca catechu. Supari or adakka is the term for the nut in many Indic languages.

Although "paan" is generally used to refer to the leaves of the betel vine, the common use of this word refers mostly to the chewing mixture wrapped in the Betel leaves.

Pan Dan (Urdu: پان دان) is used for serving Paan after a meal. This was a tradition in the Royal families of Pakistan and India and continues to this day.




Varieties
Paan is available in many different forms and flavours.

The most commonly found include:

• Tobacco (tambaku paan): Betel leaf filled with powdered tobacco with spices.
• Areca nut (paan supari, paan masala or sada paan): Betel leaf filled with a mixture consisting of a coarsely ground or chopped areca nuts and other spices.
• "Sweet" (meetha paan): Betel leaf with neither tobacco nor areca nuts. The filling is made up primarily of coconut, fruit preserves, and various spices. It is also often served with a maraschino cherry.
• "Trento" (olarno paan): It is said that it tastes like betel but has a minty after taste. Eaten along with fresh potatoes, it is served in most Indian restaurants.
  

There are a variety of betel leaves grown in different parts of India and Bangladesh; the method of preparation also differs from region to region.

The delicately flavoured paan from Bengal is known as Desi Mahoba. Maghai and Jagannath are the main paans of Benaras. Paan prepared from small and fragile leaves from south India is known as Chigrlayele. The thicker black paan leaves, the ambadi and Kariyele, are more popular and are chewed with tobacco.

Effects on Health
The International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) regards the chewing of betel-quid and areca nut to be a known human carcinogen.

The main carcinogenic factor is believed to be areca nut. A recent study found that areca-nut paan with and without tobacco increased oral cancer risk by 9.9 and 8.4 times respectively.

Culture
Chewing the mixture of areca nut and betel leaf is a tradition, custom or ritual which dates back thousands of years from South Asia to the Pacific. Ibn Battuta describes this practice as follows: "The betel is a tree which is cultivated in the same manner as the grape-vine; … The betel has no fruit and is grown only for the sake of its leaves … The manner of its use is that before eating it one takes areca nut; this is like a nutmeg but is broken up until it is reduced to small pellets, and one places these in his mouth and chews them. Then he takes the leaves of betel, puts a little chalk on them, and masticates them along with the betel."

It constitutes an important and popular cultural activity in many Asian and Oceanic countries, including Myanmar, Cambodia, the Solomon Islands, Thailand, Philippines, Laos, and Vietnam. It is not known how and when the areca nut and the betel leaf were married together as one drug. Archaeological evidence from Thailand, Indonesia and the Philippines suggests that they have been used in tandem for four thousand years or more.

Paan is a ubiquitous sight in many parts of South and Southeast Asia, It is known as beeda (in Tamil), Killi/Tambulam in (Telugu), 'sireh (in Bahasa Melayu) and Pan Dan (in Urdu). In urban areas, chewing paan is generally considered a nuisance because some chewers spit the paan out in public areas. The red stain generated by the combination of ingredients when chewed are known to make a colorful stain on the ground. This is becoming an unwanted eyesore in Indian cities like Mumbai, although most see it as an integral part to Indian culture. This is also common in some of the Persian Gulf countries like the UAE and Qatar, where many Asians live. Recently, the Dubai government has banned the import and sale of Paan and the like.

According to traditional Ayurvedic medicine, chewing areca nut and betel leaf is a good remedy against bad breath (halitosis). However, as mentioned previously in this article, chewing this mixture can possibly lead to oral cancer.

Bangladesh
In Bangladesh paan is chewed all over the country by all classes of people. Paan is offered to the guests and festivals irrespective of all religion. A mixture called Dhakai pan khili is famous in Bangladesh and the subcontinent. The sweet pan of the Khasia tribe is famous for its special quality. Paan is also used in Hindu puja and wedding festival and to visit relatives. It has become a rituals and tradition and culture of Bangladesh society. Adult women gathered with pandani along with friends and relatives in leisure time.

(From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia )