Скачать или смотреть traditional fire paan | betel leaf shop

On display are the items used in a chewing session. The betel leaves are variously folded. Slices of the dry areca nut are on the upper left and slices of the tender areca nut on the upper right. The pouch on the right has tobacco, an optional element. On the lower right, there are dried cloves.

Betel leaves at a market in Mandalay, Burma

Paan Dan from Punjab India, 19th century, Walters Art Museum, Baltimore
This article contains Burmese script. Without proper rendering support, you may see question marks, boxes, or other symbols instead of Burmese script.
Paan (from Sanskrit parṇa meaning "leaf" is a preparation combining betel leaf with areca nut widely consumed throughout South Asia, Southeast Asia and Taiwan It is chewed for its stimulant and psychoactive effects.] After chewing it is either spat out or swallowed. Paan has many variations. Slaked lime (chunnam) paste is commonly added to bind the leaves. Some South Asian preparations include katha paste or mukhwas to freshen the breath.

The origin and diffusion of paan (betel chewing) remains a somewhat unresolved issue since there is little unequivocal evidence to support the very early dates often quoted, though botanical evidence strongly suggests that the areca palm was not native to South Asia. paan (under a variety of names) is also consumed in many other Asian countries and elsewhere in the world by some Asian emigrants, with or without tobacco. It is an addictive and euphoria-inducing formulation with adverse health effects.

The spit from chewing betel nuts, known as "buai pekpek" in Papua New Guinea, is often considered an eyesore. Because of this, many places have banned selling and chewing "buai"

Chewing the mixture of areca nut and betel leaf is a tradition, custom or ritual which dates back thousands of years from India to the Pacific. Ibn Battuta describes this practice as follows: "The betel is a tree which is cultivated in the same manner as the grape-vine; ... The betel has no fruit and is grown only for the sake of its leaves ... The manner of its use is that before eating it one takes areca nut; this is like a nutmeg but is broken up until it is reduced to small pellets, and one places these in his mouth and chews them. Then he takes the leaves of betel, puts a little chalk on them, and masticates them along with the betel." Since the introduction of tobacco from the Western Hemisphere to the Eastern Hemisphere, it has been an optional addition to paan.

Paan chewing constitutes an important and popular cultural activity in many Asian and Oceanic countries, including Bangladesh, Myanmar, Cambodia, the Solomon Islands, Thailand, the Philippines, Laos, and Vietnam. It is not known how and when the lime paste, areca nut and the betel leaf were married together as one drug. Archaeological evidence from Thailand, Indonesia the Philippines and Pakistan suggests they have been used in tandem for four thousand years or more.

Paan is a ubiquitous sight in many parts of South and Southeast Asia. It is known as gillauri in Urdu, beeda in Hindi,'paan in Assamese] killi and tambulum in Telugu, thambula in Kannada, vetrrilai or thambulam in (Tamil), sireh (in Malay language), sirih (in Indonesian), suruh (in Javanese), mark (ໝາກ) in Lao, bulath in Sinhalese, buai in Tok Pisin, and foah (in Dhivehi). In urban areas, chewing paan is generally considered a nuisance because some chewers spit the paan out in public areas – compare chewing gum ban in Singapore and smoking ban. The red stain generated by the combination of ingredients when chewed are known to make a colourful stain on the ground. This is becoming an unwanted eyesore in Indian cities such as Mumbai, although many see it as an integral part of Indian culture. This is also common in some of the Persian Gulf countries, such as the UAE and Qatar, where many Indians live. Recently, the Dubai government has banned the import and sale of paan and the like.

According to traditional Ayurvedic medicine, chewing betel leaf is a remedy against bad breath (halitosis), but it can possibly lead to oral cancer.