Betel (Piper betle) is a species of flowering plant in the pepper family Piperaceae, native to Southeast Asia.

[2][3] Piper betle is originally native to Southeast Asia, from India, Philippines, Timor-Leste and Indonesia and Peninsular Malaysia to Indochina, Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos, Thailand, and Myanmar.

Dried leaves and wood ash are applied to the furrows at fortnightly intervals and cow dung slurry is sprinkled.

The harvested leaves are consumed locally and exported to other parts of Asia, the Middle East, Europe, and the Americas.

[citation needed] The primary use of betel leaf is as a wrapper for the chewing of areca nut, or in modern times, tobacco, where it is mainly used to add flavour.

The practice originated in the Philippines around 5,000 years ago, where the oldest remains of areca nuts and calcium from crushed sea shells have been found in the Duyong Cave archaeological site.

[10] Areca nut, Calcium hydroxide and catechu were the historic ingredients, as referenced in texts from 9th century CE.

[10][11] The practice of chewing betel leaf is on the decline, and now quid consisting of tobacco, areca nut, and limewater, known as gutka, is more popular.

[11] In India and Sri Lanka, a sheaf of betel leaves is traditionally offered as a mark of respect and auspicious beginnings.

In Bengali weddings, the bride is brought to the groom, seated on a platform and her face covered in betel leaves.

In Papua New Guinea and the Solomon Islands, the inflorescence stalk of the betel tree, known as daka or "mustard stick", is consumed together with the leaves.

[20][21][22] The International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) and the World Health Organization (WHO) accept the scientific evidence that chewing tobacco and areca nut is carcinogenic to humans.

[37] Its essential oil consists of 50 different compounds, of which major components are eugenol, caryophyllene, terpinolene, terpinene, cadinene, and 3-carene.

[38] Betel vines are cultivated throughout southeast Asia, in plots typically 20 to 2,000 square metres (0.005 to 0.5 acre) in size.

Commercial production of betel, with bigger leaves with dark green colour combined with thickness, known as "kalu bulath", is confined to a few districts, such as Kurunagala, Gampaha, Kegalle, Kalutara and Colombo.

The additional salary and income to the Sri Lankan betel grower, assuming he or she provides all needed labor and keeps all net profit, is SL Rs.

The market prices for betel leaves vary with the wet and dry seasons in Sri Lanka, and in 2010 averaged SL Rs.

In India, a 2006 research reported[42] betel vines being cultivated on about 55,000 hectares of farmland, with an annual production worth of about IN Rs.