The efficacy and function of Chinese medicine betel nut

When talking about betel nut, many people will immediately think of the plant that can be chewed in the mouth for a long time, and the damaged teeth of people who chew betel nut for a long time. Betel nut is a plant with medicinal value. Especially in ethnic minority areas, betel nut is regarded as a hobby. Chewing betel nut can be helpful or harmful to health. Therefore, there are still many things to pay attention to when using betel nut.

The efficacy and function of Chinese medicine betel nut

Efficacy and function

1. Betel nut seeds can be used as medicine, which has the effects of killing insects, breaking up accumulations, relieving gas, and promoting diuresis. It is one of my country's precious "four major southern medicines". It is mainly used to treat parasite accumulation, food accumulation, qi stagnation, dysentery, expelling ascaris, and external treatment of glaucoma. Chewing it has a stimulating effect.

2. Betel nut contains a variety of nutrients and beneficial substances needed by the human body, such as fat, betel nut oil, bioalkali, catechins, cholecalciferol and other ingredients. Betel nut has a unique function of preventing miasma and is a medicinal fruit used by doctors of all dynasties to treat diseases. It is also known as "miasma-washing pill". Because malaria is generally related to irregular diet and stagnation of qi, and betel nut can relieve qi, help digestion and eliminate phlegm, it has attracted widespread attention for its medicinal properties.

3. Betel nut can be eaten and chewed with brine. People who chew it for the first time may feel red face and chest tightness, which is normal.

Pharmacological Action

①Anthelmintic effect

Arecaline is an effective insect repellent. It has a strong paralyzing effect on pork red worms, paralyzing all parts of the worm. On beef red worms, it can only completely paralyze the head and immature segments, while it has little effect on the egg-bearing segments in the middle and posterior segments. In vitro tests also show a paralyzing effect on pinworms. Arecaline can also cause poisoning to roundworms but has no effect on hookworms. Giving a decoction of betel nut mixed with realgar, cinnamon and asafoetida to mice has a certain preventive effect on schistosomiasis infection, but it is ineffective when used together with daylily root, coptis chinensis and costusroot to treat schistosomiasis in mice.

②Anti-fungal and anti-viral effects

The aqueous extract has different degrees of inhibitory effect on skin fungi such as Trichophyton violaceum in test tubes. Decoctions and aqueous extracts have a certain inhibitory effect on certain strains of influenza virus type A, and the antiviral effect may be related to the tannins they contain.

③Effects on choline receptors

The effect of arecaline is similar to that of pilocarpine. It can excite M-choleline receptors to cause increased glandular secretion, especially saliva secretion. It can cause pupil constriction when applied to the eye. It can also increase intestinal motility, constrict bronchi, slow heart rate, and cause vasodilation and a drop in blood pressure. It caused coronary artery constriction in rabbits after application. A 1% solution can reduce intraocular pressure when used for glaucoma, but the effect is short-lived and it is significantly irritating to the cornea. Due to the increased peristalsis, the paralyzed red worms are expelled. It can also excite N-choleline receptors, which manifests as excitation of skeletal muscles, ganglia and carotid bodies. It also has a cholinergic effect on the central nervous system. Intravenous injection of a small amount of arecaline in cats can cause a cortical awakening reaction, and atropine can reduce or block this effect.

④Other functions

Subcutaneous injection of arecaline in mice can inhibit their general activities and improve the reduced activity and memory impairment caused by chlorpromazine. It has been proven that betel nut contains substances that are carcinogenic to humans. People who chew betel nut regularly have a decreased sense of taste, increased appetite, loose teeth, less diarrhea and sore throat, and it can cure abdominal pain. This may be because it contains a large amount of tannins. In addition, people who eat betel nut have fewer intestinal parasites and feel less thirsty, which may be related to the effects of arecaline.