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Betel Leaf
MEDICINAL AND NUTRITIVE VALUE OF BETEL LEAF
Betel leaf is traditionally known to be usefulfor the treatment of various diseases like bad
breath, boils and abscesses, conjunctivitis,
constipation, headache, hysteria, itches, mastitis,
mastoiditis, leucorrhoea, otorrhoea, ringworm,
swelling of gum, rheumatism, abrasion, cuts and
injuries etc as folk medicine while the root is
known for it’s female contraceptive effects
(Chopra et al., 1956; Khanra, 1997). Further,
the essential oil contained in the leaves possesses
antibacterial, antiprotozoan and antifungal
properties. Therefore, the oil kills or inhibits
growth of dreadful bacteria causing typhoid,
cholera, tuberculosis etc that needs proper
evaluation and exploitation (CSIR, 1969).
Not only that, the betel leaves really do not have any match as a cheap, natural and easily available appetizer, digestive, mild stimulant, aphrodisiac and refreshing mastication. Chewing of betel leaves produce a sense of well-being, increased alertness, sweating, salivation, hot sensation and energetic feeling with exhilaration. It also increases the capacity to exercise physical and mental functions more efficiently for a longer duration but it may produce a kind of psychoactive effect causing a condition of mild addiction leading to habituation and withdrawal symptoms (Chu, 2001; Garg and Jain, 1996).
Further, the leaves are very nutritive and contain substantial amount of vitamins and minerals (Table 1) and therefore, six leaves with a little bit of slaked lime is said to be comparable to about 300 ml of cow milk particularly for the vitamin and mineral nutrition. The leaves also contain the enzymes like diastase and catalase besides a significant amount of all the essential amino acids except lysine, histidine and arginine, which are found only in traces (CSIR, 1969; Gopalan, 1984; Guha and Jain, 1997).
However, relevant data
from a complete biochemical analysis is not
available from any single source. Consequently,
the analytical values from two or more reports
may reveal a very wide or even contradictory trend. Therefore, research work in this direction
becomes inevitable.
Dual role of betel leaf extract on thyroid function in male mice
SUNANDA PANDA and ANAND KARf1 Thyroid Research Unit, School of Life Sciences, Devi Ahilya University, Vigyan Bhawan, Khandwa Road, Indore, 452 017, India 17 April 2002.
The effects of betel leaf extract (0.10, 0.40, 0.80 and 2.0 g kg−1day−1for 15 days) on the alterations in thyroid hormone concentrations, lipid peroxidation (LPO) and on the activities of superoxide dismutase (SOD) and catalase (CAT) were investigated in male Swiss mice. Administration of betel leaf extract exhibited a dual role, depending on the different doses. While the lowest dose decreased thyroxine (T4) and increased serum triiodothyronine (T3) concentrations, reverse effects were observed at two higher doses. Higher doses also increased LPO with a concomitant decrease in SOD and CAT activities. However, with the lowest dose most of these effects were reversed. These findings suggest that betel leaf can be both stimulatory and inhibitory to thyroid function, particularly for T3generation and lipid peroxidation in male mice, depending on the amount consumed.
Healing property of the Piper betel phenol, allylpyrocatechol against indomethacin-induced stomach ulceration and mechanism of action.
Bhattacharya S, Banerjee D, Bauri AK, Chattopadhyay S, Bandyopadhyay SK.
Department of Biochemistry, Dr. B.C. Roy Post Graduate Institute of Basic Medical Sciences and IPGMERR, 244B, Acharya Jagadish Chandra Bose Road, Kolkata 700020, India. World J Gastroenterol. 2007 Jul 21;13(27):3705-13.
AIM: To evaluate the protective activity of allylpyrocatechol (APC), the major antioxidant constituent of Piper betel, against the indomethacin-induced stomach ulceration in the rat model and correlates with its antioxidative and mucin protecting properties.
METHODS: Male Sprague-Dawley rats were divided into five groups. Normal control rats (group I) were given the vehicle oral dose of gum acacia in distilled water (1 mL per rat); ulcerated control and treated rats (groups II-V) were given a single dose of indomethacin (30 mg/kg body wt.); group II rats were sacrificed 4 h after indomethacin administration; groups III-V rats were given the vehicle (1 mL per rat) or APC (2 mg/kg body wt.) or misoprostol (1.43 mug/kg body wt.) once daily by oral intubation for 7 d starting from 4 h after the indomethacin administration. After 7 d, the stomach tissues were excised for histological examination and biochemical analysis.
RESULTS: Treatment with APC (2 mg/kg body wt per day) and misoprostol (1.43 mug/kg body wt per day) for 7 d could effectively heal the stomach ulceration as revealed from the ulcer index and histopathological studies. Compared to the zero day ulcerated group, treatment with APC and misoprostol reduced the ulcer index by 93.4% and 85.4% respectively (P < 0.05). Both APC and misoprostol accelerated ulcer healing observed in natural recovery (P < 0.05), their respective healing capacities not being significantly different. The healing capacities of APC and misoprostol could be attributed to their antioxidant activity as well as the ability to enhance the mucin content of the gastric tissues. Compared to the ulcerated untreated rats, those treated with APC and misoprostol showed near normal MDA levels, while the protein levels were 86% and 78% of the normal value respectively (P < 0.05). Likewise, both APC and misoprostol increased the SOD, catalase, and mucin levels significantly (P < 0.05), the effect of APC being better.
CONCLUSION: APC can protect indomethacin-induced gastric ulceration due to its antioxidative and mucin protecting properties.
Studie1