Piper betle L. - Piper siriboa L.; Chavica betle (L.) Miq.; Chavica auriculata Miq. - Piperaceae \\
betel pepper, betelvine, **Betelpfeffer**

Dioecious climbing shrub, to 5m high; native in tropical South East Asia, cultivated in Asia, India, East Africa; \\
leaf blade ovate to ovate-oblong; spikes leaf-opposed, male spikes nearly as long as leaf blades at anthesis; drupes fused to form terete, fleshy, reddish, compound fruit, apices tomentose, prominent. 
[[http://www.efloras.org/florataxon.aspx?flora_id=2&taxon_id=200005554]]

"Betel leaves are used as a stimulant, an antiseptic and a breath-freshener... An extensive ca. 2004 research monograph by the World Health Organization, reports that betel leaf is consumed, in southeast Asian community worldwide, predominantly as a betel quid (synonymous with pan or paan). The betel quid contains betel leaf, areca nut and slaked lime, and may contain tobacco..." [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Betel]]

"Five polyphenols with significant fungicidal and nematocidal acivity are isolated from the chloroform extract of leaves of Piper betle L. (Piperaceae). The compounds are identifeid as chavicol, chavibetol, allylpyrocatechol, chavibetol acetate and allylpyrocatechol diacetate." \\
[Identification of fungicidal and nematocidal components in the leaves of Piper betle (Piperaceae). Evans, P. H., Bowers, W. S., Funk, E. J., Journal of Agricultural and Food chemistry, Vol.32(6), 1984, 1254-1256]

"The constituents of the essential oil of Piper betle L. served as determinants to distinguish betelvine cultivars. Eugenol was found to be the major and common compound amongst the cultivars, being dominant in “Bangla” (64%). 1,3-Benzodioxole (5)-2-propenyl [safrole] was maximum in cv. “Desawari” (45%). cv. “Meetha” can be distinguished from others due to the presence of anethole (19.31%) and cis-caryophyllene. Amongst the five cultivars studied, “Kapoori” appeared to be a distinct genotype as marked by large number of specific molecules such as α-thujene, trans β-ocimene, terpinolene, allo ocimene, δ-cadinene, terpinen-1-ol, α-costol, δ-cadinol, methyl-2-hexadecan-1-ol, geraniol, hexadeconic acid, methyl benzoate etc. “Sanchi” is marked by the presence of stearaldehyde which is absent in other cultivars." \\
[Essential oil components as markers for identification of //Piper betle// L. cultivars. Rawat, A. K. S., Tripathi, R. D., Khan, A. J., Balasubrahmanyam, V. R., Biochemical systematics and ecology, Vol.17(1), 1989, 35-38]

"The essential oil from the leaves of Piper betle L. Sagar Bangla cultivar has been found in vitro to be highly active against the growth of four keratinophilic fungi, Arthroderma benhamiae, Microsporum gypseum, Trichophyton mentagrophytes, Ctenomyces serratus and five pathogenic Aspergilli. Bacterial organisms Bacillus subtilis, B. pumilus, Staphylococcus aureus, Salmonella typhi and Vibrio cholerae were also found to be susceptible to the oil. The essential oil was also found to be more effective against tapeworms (Taenia solium) and hookworms (Bunostomum trigonocephalum), than the synthetic anthelmintics piperazine phosphate and hexyl resorcinol. The results presented lend some credibility to some of the reported applications of Piper betle in the Indian system of medicine." \\
[Biological activity of the essential oil of //Piper betle// L. Garg, S. C., Jain, R., Journal of Essential Oil Research, Vol.4(6), 1992, 601-606]

Eugenol (63.39%) and acetyleugenol (14.05%) were the major components of 32 constituents identified from the //Piper betle var. magahi// essential oil through GC and GC–MS analysis. "P. betle essential oil thus exhibited special merits possessing antifungal, aflatoxin suppressive and antioxidant characters which are desirable for an ideal preservative. Hence, its application as a plant based food additive in protection and enhancement of shelf life of edible commodities during storage and processing is strongly recommended in view of the toxicological implications by synthetic preservatives." \\
[Efficacy of chemically characterized //Piper betle// L. essential oil against fungal and aflatoxin contamination of some edible commodities and its antioxidant activity. Prakash, B., Shukla, R., Singh, P., Kumar, A., Mishra, P. K., Dubey, N. K., International journal of food microbiology, Vol.142(1), 2010, 114-119]

{{:piper_betle.jpg?600}} \\
The journal of the Linnean society, Botany, vol.41, t.17 (1913) [K.R.Tilak] \\
[[http://plantgenera.org/species.php?id_species=795902]]