THE NUT AND EXTRACT 



Combination 

 with other 

 I'ruit Trees. 



ARECA 



CATECHU 



Manufacture 



manure are pro\ i.l. ,| ; and lastly an extension of the system of combination of 



betel-nut cultivation with that of other fruit trees. The cultivation of surface 



crops such as vegetables, ginger, tobacoo, pepper-betel, etc., would also no 



iloul)t pi-ov.' not only pn>iital>If '"it l>tmi)ficial to the palms. They would retain 



ire in the soil and preserve a healthy balance in its food materials. But in 



MIII ry where betel-nuts are grown on a large scale and with the class of people 



ngage in that remarkable branch of agriculture, such preventive measures 



would | .. !!,. i[,s be next to impossible, unless they could be made compulsory. 



MANUFACTURE. Preparation of the Nut. It would take many pages Nut. 

 to detail the various methods of preparation pursued in Bengal, Assam, 

 >ur, Burma, Madras, Mysore and Bombay. In some cases the shelled 

 ire boiled, in others not ; occasionally the nuts either before or after 

 boiling are sliced or cut up into variously shaped pieces ; lastly certain Boiled. 

 Dualities of the nut are recognised according to region of production and 

 varii'ty of plant or degree of maturity at which collected. On this subject 

 the authors of the Pharmacographia Indica (I.e. 532) say : " The varieties of 

 the nut met with in trade are numerous ; they may be classed as natural 

 and artificial : the first class includes different varieties of ripe betel-nut 

 produced by cultivation which have not undergone any preparation ; the 

 second class, all nuts, ripe or unripe, which have been treated by boiling or 

 other process before being offered for sale." Mollison observes that in 

 Kanara the nuts after being boiled are dried in the sun and sorted into three Dried, 

 kinds, viz. chikni, betta, and gotu. The first and the best quality sells at Trade Qualities. 

 Rs. 6 to 7, the second at Rs. 3 to 4, and the third at Rs. 2 to 2. Taylor 

 describes the Bengal method of shelling and cleaning the nuts before being 

 sent to market. Briefly it may be said the fruits are cut off the branches, 

 collected in baskets and spread out to dry, most frequently on the roofs of 

 the houses. They are never boiled, but are simply cut open and assorted 

 according to size. 



The Extract. Mollison says " The scraped nuts are boiled for about Extract, 

 two hours in fairly large copper pots. A handful of lime or of the 

 ash of the bark of rnatti (Term in alia tonientosa) is added to the 

 water. The presence of lime causes the water to become red or red- 

 brown in colour as the boiling proceeds. The water also becomes thick 

 with a resinous extract from the nuts. The boiling is continued until the 

 eye-bud or germ of growth from each nut comes out or becomes absorbed 

 in the extract. The nuts are removed by a long-handled ladle (zdra). 

 The ladle has perforations in its bowl which allow the extract to drain 

 from the nuts back into the pot. The extract is again and again used for Repeated 

 boiling fresh supplies of nuts, pure water as required being added from 

 time to time to prevent the decoction becoming too thick and concen- 

 trated. The extract after being used for boiling repeatedly becomes deep 

 red-brown and thick. It is then emptied into another broad-mouthed 

 vessel which is placed under full exposure to the sun. The mass by 

 evaporation thickens and Areca Catechu or kossa is the product." Several 

 other writers allude to this extract. In the Dictionary passages from The 

 Thana Gazetteer, and from Baden Powell's Panjdb Products will be found, 

 little of a definite nature is known regarding it, however, further 

 than that it is always prepared when the nuts are boiled and is used to 

 flavour and colour inferior nuts. But no particulars are available as to 

 the existence of a separate trade in the extract kossa itself. 



Properties and Chemical Composition. The reader is referred to 

 the Pharmacographia Indica for full particulars under these headings. 



89 



