Betel nut prices fluctuate frequently. In this stall in Port Moresby they sell for one kina per nut (20 pence) - Torbjörn Wester/The Telegraph David Taim, a civil servant in Port Moresby, the capital ...

For centuries, hundreds of millions of people across Asia, from Pakistan to Palau, have chewed the spicy date-like fruit of the betel palm for a quick buzz. Then four years ago, a World Health ...

Betel nut is chewed by roughly 600 million people worldwide, making it one of the most widely used psychoactive substances on the planet after caffeine, alcohol, and nicotine. Despite being classified ...

Traces of a psychoactive compound has been detected in the dental plaque of a Bronze Age woman buried in Thailand some 4,000 years ago, making it the earliest direct chemical evidence of humans ...

Ancient rituals and customs often leave behind obvious archaeological evidence. From the impeccably preserved mummies of Egypt to psychoactive substance residue that remained at the bottom of a clay ...

This is the first in a two-part series on the past and present of the areca, better known as the betel nut. When you think of the frequently addictive substances so many of us use to make it through ...

A University of Guam team is looking at developing strategies to help betel nut chewers who want to quit the risky habit. Yvette Paulino, principal investigator of the University of Guam Cancer ...

From South Asia to the Pacific islands, people chew betel nut. When munched by habitual users, the seed of the areca palm fruit stains the teeth. And the practice—which typically involves the nut ...

HUNAN, Central China — Chewing a betel nut like a piece of gum, it first tastes of maltose syrup oozing from a wooden twig. Then, suddenly, something strong strikes your tongue and thousands of ...

Mong Shuan was just 16 when she turned to an unconventional source of income: selling betel nuts from a little stall in northern Taiwan. The stimulant, a small, oblong fruit derived from areca palms, ...

Betel nut has been closely associated with Bengali culture for ages in stories, chats, entertaining guests or at weddings. Almost every house in the southern region has betel nut trees. It is learned ...