Contamination and Adulteration in Arecanut (Areca Catechu L.) And Its Chewing Foms: The Less Focused Subject by Health Researchers
Abstract
Arecanut, Areca catechu L., along with certain other ingredients is the oldest common masticatory in most of the countries.It is generally chewed as it is believed to have lots of medicinal properties.Several Scientific data are now available to support this.On the other hand, lots of reports are also there on the adverse effects of chewing such products on human health.Most of the data collected on the adverse effects of chewing arecanut were from the people who chewed betel quid or pan masala.Both these chewing products usually contain several other ingredients, generally undisclosed, along with arecanut.While reviewing the research papers it was found that several samples of arecanut and its chewing product like pan masala available in the market were either contaminated with cancer causing fungi or adulterated with dangerous chemicals, pesticides and heavy metals which are known to cause several health problems on human beings.In spite of such scientific reports, it is most unfortunate that most of the researchers who highlighted the ill effects of chewing arecanut products simply blamed arecanut for all the adverse effects without properly analyzing the chewing products for the actual chemical contents in them.An attempt has been made in this paper to review the works carried out on the contamination and adulteration of arecanut samples available in the market and urged the health researchers to look into such aspect also before blaming arecanut for all the consequences.
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