sweetening bettlenut.

[Guest Ramon]

I have purchased some whole bettlenuts and am wondering how I can sweeten it similar to cracked and sweetened bettlenut.

[MrBumpy]

do you mean the betel nut (Area catechu)???

Some PNG guys I know chew it with lime and something else, they call it Daka, so sorry, I don't know the what it is.

I don't know how it makes it taste but they say they like it because that combo gives them a head spin

-bumpy

[Guest reville]

hiyall

I got some of the sweetened betel nut off torsten and it tastes really nice.

anyway I havent got the betel pepper leaves yet so ive munched afew straight

i find them pleasant tasting with a slightly numbing /burning senasation whens i crack open a new section - anyway it does affect me not in a head spin kind of way but more of a mood alteration - for the better

is this consistent with regular effects

i used no lime

am i correct to understand that the pepper and lime both positively affect absorbtion

[Guest Ramon]

Don't really know what the regular effects are.

I am interested because it is so widely used there must be something in it.

I am hoping that it will help me stay awake during nightshift.

Can report definately no head spin.

I agree the stuff available through Shaman Australis tasted really nice and this is how I would to flavour mine if I only knew how.

[Torsten]

Mild stimulation and mild euphoria are the desired effects. throat constriction (for a few seconds) is the immediate effect if too much is absorbed at once. if you chew a piece in one go, your throat will feel painfull, this is too much at once. effetcs build up after chewing for 30 minutes or so.

The sweetening is a typical indian flavour and I have no idea what it is, but it is used a lot in their desserts and pan masala. I suppose it is probably musk and sugar.

The betel leaf is only for flavour and to contain the nuts pieces. The lime is to help freebase the alkaloids, as they are really only active if absorbed through the mucous membranes in the mouth, which are alkaline. if the alkaloid is present as a watersoluble salt (acidic form), then it would get washed away with the saliva into the stomach, where it is fairly inactive.

[Guest Ramon]

Just a thought but would sucking vitamin C tablets achieve the same results as the lime.

At the very least it might help me avoid the flu's predicted to arrive with the olympics.

I have been chewing bettlenut for the last few nights and it is hard to say if I feel any stimulation as it is hard to feel stimulated on nightshift.

But I do notice I do not get hungry when chewing bettlenut.

[Guest reville]

I suspected the pepper aided absorbtion because i read somewhere - i think it was in

plotkins' tales of a shamans apprentice about the pepper species included in some curare recipes acting to increase absobtion of the poison.I also heard that betel pepper was a medicine in its own right and as a combo - can anyone verify this?

Ive heard nasty stories about the state of chronic betel nut chewers gums - take it easy wont you.I think its the abrasion coupled with the lime that burns ulcers into the gums.

[Guest Ramon]

At the time of last post I thought that lime would be acidic, hence the vitamin C.

Now I am not so sure.

Is Lime as refered to in bettlenut discussion acid or alkaline.

[Torsten]

The lime in question is of the mineral variety, so it is always basic. The mouth and saliva are basic and alklaloid absorption in the mouth is usually better if the alkaloid is in it's freebase form. Most masticatory drugs are taken with an alkaline.

You may have been thinking of Lime the fruit, which is acidic and tastes a lot better than the mineral, but is not the one referred to with betle nuts.

[Guest theobromus]

I found that fresh betel leaf has a distinct hit of its own. A tincture is quite nice. Brief stimulation, though a strong metallic clove taste.

There is some evidence that the betel leaf also has some ameliorating effect on the carcinogenic effect of the nitrosamines found in the betel nut.

[Guest Ramon]

Most masticatory drugs are taken with an alkaline.

[/b]

Torsten what other sources for alkaline are used in this capacity

[This message has been edited by Ramon (edited 10 September 2000).]

[Torsten]

An important ingredient in the Pituri quid is the ash from certain acacias. The acacias that were used are those that produce the strongest alkalinity in their ash for that particular region. This perfectly shows the importance of alkalines for absorption of alkaloids.

Coca is also frequently chewed with ash.

In Africa some medications that are

administered by absorption through the mouth are given with euphorbia - this too is very alkaline.

There are different types of lime that can be used. Calcium carbonate (limestone) is the most gentle form. The lime used with betel nut is usually calcium hydroxide, which has a mild saponifying effect on fatty substances. calcium oxide is unsuitable, but can easily be converted to the hydroxide. Potassium, sodium and calcium salts such as those in ash are also alkaline.

[Guest Ramon]

Had to do some quick research to find out what saponifying was.

here are the results

Chemically, soap is a salt. An acid and a base react with one another and neutralize into the salt (or soap). This process is called saponification; as the acid and the base come into contact with one another and react, the solution is saponifying – making soap. Home-made soap is made with fats and oils (the acid), sodium hydroxide (the base), and water (the solvent which dissolves the base).

Is saponifying in this case considered to be a good thing- I assume it is.

[This message has been edited by Ramon (edited 11 September 2000).]

[Guest theobromus]

If you are being saponified it is not a good thing. This is why it is important to measure the amounts carefully when using slaked lime (calcium hydroxide).

[Guest Ramon]

How much lime is recommended?

Also when and how is it used?

[This message has been edited by Ramon (edited 12 September 2000).]