Areca Nut Palm  ,Betel Nut

Areca catechu  also named betel palm, is a handsome tree cultivated throughout the warmer parts of Asia for its yellowish-red fruits, which contain conical-shaped seeds with a flattened base. They are brownish in color externally, and internally are mottled like a nutmeg. Areca catechu seeds, also known as betel nuts, have been widely used in traditional Chinese medicine as an antiparasitic agent for thousands of years.
Some constituents of betel nut have antihypertensive properties. Both leaves and nuts are used for the treatment of diarrhea, dropsy, sunstroke, beri beri, throat inflammations, edema, lumbago, bronchial catarrh, and urinary disorders.

Edible Uses
Seed - raw. The seed has mild narcotic properties, it is widely used in some areas of the tropics as a masticatory, being mixed with the leaves of a pepper plant (Piper betle), a gum and, often, lime.Betel seeds contain tannins and alkaloids - these stimulate saliva flow, accelerate heart and perspiration rates, suppress hunger and offer positive protection against intestinal worms. The ovoid fruit is 4 - 5cm long and produced in large clusters of 200 - 300.
Young leaves, inflorescences and the sweet inner part of the shoots are cooked and eaten as vegetables.
The skin of the fruit is edible.
The nut contains 8-12% fat that has characteristics comparable with hydrogenated coconut oil. It can be made edible by refining it with an alkali.

Medicinal
Betel palm is an astringent, stimulant herb that relieves hunger, abdominal discomfort and weariness. It kills intestinal parasites and other pathogens, and also has diuretic and laxative effects.It is used mainly in veterinary medicine to expel tapeworms.

The seed is used against anaemia, fits, leucoderma, leprosy, obesity and worms. It is also used in the treatment of dysentery and malaria. In combination with other ingredients, it is also a purgative and an ointment for nasal ulcers.

Kernels of green and mature fruits are chewed as an astringent and stimulant, often with the leaves or fruit of betel pepper (Piper betle) and slaked lime.The rind is also used as a laxative in cases of constipation with flatulence and bloating, as well as a diuretic in treating oedema. The fruits are harvested when fully ripe, and can be dried for later use.
The areca nut decoction as well as arecoline and its salts have been found to be effective on various parasitic helminth infections such as those caused by Taenia spp