Betel Nut & Coconut

The Betel Nut contain the stimulant arecoline. The nuts are ground and often combined with mineral lime and wrapped in the leaf of a Betel plant. Notably, frequent use can stain teeth black and its daily use is associated with increased risk of mouth cancers.

Coconut grown in abundance in Malaysia, Polynesia and southern Asia. Spanish explorers named the cocos, meaning 'grinning face', because of the three little eyes on the base which they thought resembled a monkey. Classed as a fruit and frequently confused for being a nut, the coconut is actually a one-seeded drupe. In Sanskrit, the coconut palm is known as kalpa vriksha - 'tree which gives all that is necessary for living' because nearly all parts can be used, the water, milk, flesh, sugar and oil. Even the husks and leaves are used as materials in furnishings and decoration. Palm trees produce coconuts up to 13 times a year and although it takes a year for the coconuts to mature, a fully blossomed tree can produce between 60-180 coconuts in a single harvest.