China buys Vietnamese areca nuts heavily: It turns out this fruit can be processed into so many things!

Recently, China has continuously purchased areca nuts from Vietnam, causing the price of this fruit to reach a record high.

According to Thanh Nien newspaper, the price of fresh areca nuts in places like Quang Ngai, Dak Lak, Tay Ninh, Tien Giang, Kien Giang. fluctuates from 80,000 - 85,000 VND/kg. Meanwhile, in the northern region like Bac Ninh, the price of areca nuts can reach up to 90,000 VND/kg due to limited supply.

Traders who directly pick areca nuts said the reason the price of areca nuts has increased and remained high for many months is because China lacks supply and has increased imports of areca nuts from Vietnam, Thanh Nien newspaper reported.

Chinese people process areca into many different dishes.

First, the Chinese often process areca nuts into areca candy. Areca candy has a sweet taste, is often used as a snack, when eaten it will bring a cool, refreshing feeling in the mouth. The Chinese often eat areca candy to prevent sore throat, keep the body warm or when feeling tired and need to stay awake.

In addition, in China, areca nut is also an ingredient to prepare many different dishes. People in Hunan province (China) often stir-fry duck meat with dried areca nut to enhance the flavor of the dish. People in Jiangxi province, China often stew dried areca nut with quail or cook porridge to nourish the body and improve digestion.

According to statistics in 2020 posted on China's The Paper news site, sales of areca-related items increased at a rate of 20% per year.

Chinese people often eat areca nuts or add areca nuts to soups and stews. (Photo: hsieh.tsaihua, Sohu)

Benefits of areca nut

Researcher Tran Luong Thu, working at the Chinese Academy of Tropical Agricultural Sciences, said that areca nut is one of the important medicinal herbs in China.

Areca nut has a bitter, astringent taste, helps restore the stomach and intestines, has the effect of reducing edema, strengthening the spleen, regulating the central nervous system, eliminating worms and is good for joints and preventing malaria.

According to experts, areca nuts contain arecolin which can paralyze the nervous system of parasites, helping to destroy pork tapeworms, beef tapeworms, liver flukes, etc. and eliminate them from the body. Regularly eating areca nuts also helps increase intestinal motility, stimulate the production of digestive secretions and increase appetite.

In addition to its medicinal effects, alkaloid active ingredients such as arecoline and arecailin in areca can also affect the human central nervous system, making people feel happy and reducing mental stress, increasing feelings of excitement similar to antidepressants.

Continuous chewing of areca nut will promote the body to quickly absorb alkaloids through the oral mucosa. Normally, within 5 minutes, the body will experience physical and psychological changes, these symptoms can last for 2-3 hours.

Areca nut is one of the important medicinal herbs.

Some notes when eating areca nut

The alkaloid in areca nut can also cause reactions such as facial flushing, body heat and mild sweating. For those who eat areca nut for the first time, they may experience unusual symptoms such as dizziness, chest tightness, sore throat and do not feel relaxed, excited or comfortable.

Besides, eating areca nut can be addictive due to the active ingredients that stimulate the central nervous system, making people feel relaxed quickly. Therefore, experts recommend that people should limit eating too much areca nut.