A joint survey has found that chewing arecanut in its traditional form is not harmful to human health.
The survey was conducted by the Kasaragod-based Central Plantation Crops Research Institute (CPCRI), under the Indian Council of Agricultural Research, and the Mangaluru-based Arecanut Research and Development Foundation (ARDF).
The survey concluded that the traditional chewing of arecanut without any additives or betel quid with or without tobacco is not harmful to humans.
There was no significant difference between non-chewers and chewers with regard to health, except for tooth problems.
The problems related to teeth were significantly more in non-chewers compared to the traditional chewers with or without tobacco, it said.
The findings of the survey have been published in the Indian Journal of Arecanut, Spices and Medicinal Plants published by the Kozhikode-based Directorate of Arecanut and Spices Development.
The survey said that though arecanut has beneficial properties, several researchers projected its chewing as dangerous.
It said that almost all studies were mostly based on the data of several chewing products where arecanut is one of the components. However, arecanut was blamed for all the ill effects.
The survey was conducted in 2018 in Kasaragod district of Kerala, Dakshina Kannada, Shivamogga, and Uttara Kannada districts to study the effects of traditional chewing of arecanut/betel quid on human health.
C.T. Jose, principal scientist, and Ananda Gowda, senior technical assistant from CPCRI’s regional station at Vittal in Dakshina Kannada, S. Jayasekhar, senior scientist of CPCRI, Kasaragod, and S. Keshav Bhat from the ARDF conducted the survey.
It said that the adverse effects reported in association with arecanut chewing may be owing to several other factors such as small sample size, the role of other ingredients used in the preparations of chewing products (especially in packed products such as paan masala, gutkha, khaine, etc.), the cumulative effects of all the ingredients, unusual methods of application, the quality (including contaminations and adulterations) of arecanut used etc.
Most of the research publications that projected arecanut chewing as dangerous did not check for these factors, it said.
112 families
The survey collected data from 977 people from 112 families. They were classified into four age groups (15-39 years, 40-59 years, 60-79 years, and 80 and more years) and three chewing types (non-chewers, betel quid chewers without tobacco, and betel quid chewers with tobacco).
Among the 917 respondents, 232 were non-chewers. Of the total sample, 292 chewed betel quid without tobacco, and 393 chewed it with tobacco. All those who chewed betel quid used to chew for 10-30 minutes and spit out the remaining quid.
Of those who chewed betel quid without tobacco, 55.56% were chewing less than five times a day, and only 1.37% were chewing 25 or more times a day. Of those who chewed it with tobacco, 12.9% were chewing less than five times a day, and 14% were chewing 25 or more times in a day.
The survey noted that 8% of people who chewed it without tobacco and 14% of people who did it with tobacco were doing so for more than 50 years or so.
On the health status of betel quid-chewing and non-chewing people, it noted that 31.03% of non-chewers reported specific health problems. Among the betel quid chewers, 13.70% of people who chewed it without tobacco, and 18.07% of people who did it with tobacco reported health problems.
