Areca Nut Seed Meat Capsules (Areca catechu)

Powdered areca nut is used as a constituent in some dentifrices.

Other traditional uses include the removal of tapeworms and other intestinal parasites by swallowing a few teaspoons of powdered areca nut, drunk as a decoction, or by taking tablets containing the extracted alkaloids. Also, according to traditional Ayurvedic medicine, chewing areca nut and betel leaf is a good remedy against bad breath.

This Areca palm fruit grows in much of the tropical Pacific (Melanesia and Micronesia), Southeast and South Asia, and parts of east Africa. It is commonly referred to as betel nut so it is easily confused with betel (Piper betle) leaves that are often used to wrap it. Chewing the mixture of areca nut and betel leaf is a tradition, custom, or ritual which dates back thousands of years in much of the geographical areas from South Asia eastward to the Pacific.