Leaves of Piper betle posses several bioactivities and are used in traditional medicinal systems. The Piper betle leaf is known is Paan in Assamese/Urdu/Hindi/Odia/Beng ali, and Tambula and Nagavalli in Sanskrit.
Piper species have been used in a variety of traditional medicine such as Traditional Chinese Medicine, Ayurvedic system and folklore medicine of Latin America and West Indies. The betel leaves are mainly used as mouth freshener and is also well known for curing many communicable and non-communicable diseases like cold, cough, bronchial asthma, rheumatism, stomachalgia and used to treat other diseases like bad breath, boils and abscesses, conjunctivitis, constipation, swelling of gums, cuts and injuries.
Leaves contain protein 3-3.5%, carbohydrate 0.5-6.10%, minerals 2.3-3.3%, and tannins 0.1- 1.3%. It contains calcium, phosphorus, iron, iodine and potassium, it is also contains Vitamin B, vitamin C and vitamin A. It also contains some aromatic compounds and stable oils like phenol and terpene.
The essential oil also contains chavibetol, caryophyllene and methyl eugenol which are the potent source for preparation in ayurvedic medicine and herbal products.
The betel leaf was used as a common household remedy for inflammation in oral cavity. Essential oil of Piper betle provided better protection from biting of mosquitoes Anopheles stephensi and Culex fatigans compared to known mosquito repellent citronella oil.
It is an effective anti wormal agent because of its pungent taste. It is an excellent anti infectious agent again because of its pungent taste. It helps in normalizing the digestive tract hence is very effective in maintaining the digestive system because of its light properties.
Piper betle
