An overview of Betel vine (Piper Betle L.): Nutritional, pharmacological and economical promising natural reservoir
From Firenze University Press Journal: Advances in Horticultural Science
A.K. Sahu, P.G. Department of Biosciences and Biotechnology, Fakir Mohan University Vyasa Vihar
S.S. Kar, P.G. Department of Environmental Science, Fakir Mohan University Vyasa Vihar
P. Kumari, Centre of Excellence (CoE) for Bioresource Management and Energy Conservation Material Development, Fakir Mohan University Vyasa Vihar
S.K. Dey, Centre of Excellence (CoE) for Bioresource Management and Energy Conservation Material Development, Fakir Mohan University Vyasa Vihar
The betel vine (Piper betle L.) belongs to the Piperaceae family, which also contains pepper and kava. Paan leaves are produced in the Philippines, Malaysia, India, Sri Lanka, Taiwan, Thailand, and other Southeast Asian countries as a postmeal mouth freshener. It is primarily consumed in South Asia and by certain Asian emigrants worldwide as betel quid or paan, in combination with areca nut or tobacco (Saraswat et al., 2020; Shah et al., 2021). A sheaf of betel leaves is typically presented in Odisha as a token of respect and auspicious beginnings in traditional culture. It belongs to the genus Piper of the Division Magnoliphyta, Class Magnolipsida, Order Piperales, and Family Piperaceae. It is a unisexual perennial evergreen climber with shiny cardio leaves and white catkins that bloom in the spring. Betel vine is categorized into odorous and nonpungent kinds depending on the form, length, and flavour of the leaf.
The plant’s leaves are basic and have an acuminated crown. Mostly, the leaves are smooth and shining. The leaves differ in color from light green to dark green. The leaves are longstalked with 23 pairs of secondary veins (Swapna et al., 2012). The betel plant’s limbs usually bulge at the nodes and are completely smooth. Female spikes are cylindrical, whereas male spikes are pendulous. Female spikes measure 2.55.0 cm in length. In the humid environment of East India, female plants often generate blooms or fruit (Sengupta and Banik, 2013; Rahman et al.,2020). Throughout thousands of years, nature has provided a reservoir of medical substances, and current medications are derived from ecological resources. The betel leaves contain a variety of bioactive compounds and are employed in ancient medical methods. Such leaves are high in minerals, vitamins, enzymes, proteins, and essential oil (EO), and they are very nutritious (Nayaka et al., 2021; Paswan et al., 2021).
They also include certain useful therapeutic components for the therapy of disorders of the brain, liver, and cardiac (Pradhan et al., 2013; Ullah et al., 2020). Polyphenols, alkaloids, steroids, saponins, and tannins were also found. In the Indian subcontinent, medicinal plants are a resource of economical worth (Sen and Chakraborty, 2017; Madhumita et al., 2020). Medicinal plants are the primary source of medicine for the bulk of the rural community in emerging nations, and consequently play a key role in their health systems (Patra et al.,2014; WHO, 2019). Upto 80% of people in developing countries still use local medicinal herbs for their basic health care needs (Sen and Chakraborty, 2017; WHO, 2019). Furthermore, diastase and catalase activities are detected in the leaflets (Abrahimet al., 2012; Shah et al., 2021). It assists in curing and treating many conditions, including halitosis, boiling and absceeding, conjunctivitis, headache, constipation, hysteria, itching, mastitis, leucorrhoea, otorrhoea, mastoiditis, gum swelling, ringworm, rheumatism, abrasions, injuries, cuts, etc (Shukla et al.,2018). Because of their antibacterial and antioxidant properties, these oils have a promising future in the novel food packaging industry (EI Asbahani et al.,2015; Guha and Nandi, 2019; Nguyen et al., 2021), as well as being a prospective and appealing flavouring component for the food and beverage sectors. This plant is grown as a cash crop in the Balasore, Jagatsinghpur, Puri, Khordha, and Ganjam areas of coastal Odisha (Jena, 2021).
In Assamese/Urdu/ Hindi/Odia/Bengali, the betel leaf is recognised as Paan, whereas in Sanskrit it is considered as Taambuul and Nagavalli. The finest betel leaf is the “Magadhi” type cultivated near Patna in Bihar, India. The popular type of betel leaf in Kerala is called “Venmony Vettila” and comes from Venmony near Chengannur (Guha and Nandi, 2019). In Odisha, four distinct forms of betel leaf are grown. The Bhograi block in the Balasore district is known throughout the country for its betel vine farming (Patra and Pradhan, 2018). Cultivars with the prefix Desi in their names, on the other hand, always relate to the cultivars Desavari in Madhya Pradesh, Kapoori in Maharashtra, Bangla in West Bengal (Guha and Nandi, 2019), Bali and Chandrakana in Bhogarai. The varieties are Nova Cuttak, GodiBangala, Sanchi, and Birkoli. Only one type, GodiBangala, is grown by the locals in the research region Bhainchigodi (Patra and Pradhan, 2018). Odisha is one of the states that produce the most betel vine. In the context of such scientific research, this review article tries to summarise all the possible information on betel leaf with its propagation, socioeconomics, and bioactive compounds, justifying wider possibilities for its use as a natural source for people in Coastal Odisha.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.36253/ahsc-12290
Read Full Text: https://oaj.fupress.net/index.php/ahs/article/view/12290
