Betel pepper (Piper betle) vines

Shopkeeper making Paan in an Indian store

Paan, pan (in many Indic languages, हिन्दी : पान ), or beeda (in Tamil) is a type of Indian snack, which consists of fillings wrapped in a triangular package using leaves of the Betel pepper (Piper betle) and held together with a toothpick or a clove. Image File history File links PaanPlant. ... Image File history File links PaanPlant. ... Download high resolution version (819x614, 178 KB)Shop keeper making Paan I, the creator of this image, hereby release it into the public domain. ... Download high resolution version (819x614, 178 KB)Shop keeper making Paan I, the creator of this image, hereby release it into the public domain. ... The Indo-Aryan languages form a subgroup of the Indo-Iranian languages, thus belonging to the Indo-European family of languages. ... Tamil (தமிழ் ) is a classical language and one of the major languages of the Dravidian language family. ... A snack food is seen in Western culture as a type of food that is not meant to be eaten as part of one of the main meals of the day (breakfast, lunch, supper). ... Binomial name Piper betle L. The Betel (Piper betle) is a spice whose leaves have medicinal properties. ... Wood toothpicks A toothpick is a piece of wood or other substance such as plastic used to remove detritus (or food) from the teeth, usually after a meal. ... Binomial name Syzygium aromaticum (L.) Merrill & Perry A single dried clove flower bud Cloves (Syzygium aromaticum, syn. ...

Paan is chewed as a palate cleanser and a breath freshener. It is also commonly offered to guests and visitors as a sign of hospitality and eaten at cultural events. Paan filling is generally a mixture of various spices, fruits, and sugar. Paan makers may use mukhwas or tobacco as an ingredient to their paan fillings. Paan is also widely available through South Asian grocers in the United States. Although many types of paan contain Betel nuts as a filling, many other types do not. Screen shot of Spice OPUS, a fork of Berkeley SPICE SPICE (Simulation Program with Integrated Circuits Emphasis) is a general purpose analog circuit simulator. ... Fruit stall in Barcelona, Spain. ... Magnification of typical sugar showing monoclinic hemihedral crystal stucture. ... Mukhwas is an East Indian aftermeal snack or digestive aid made primarily of fennel seeds, anise seeds, coconut, and sesame seeds. ... Species Nicotiana acuminata Nicotiana alata Nicotiana attenuata Nicotiana benthamiana Nicotiana clevelandii Nicotiana excelsior Nicotiana forgetiana Nicotiana glauca Nicotiana glutinosa Nicotiana langsdorffii Nicotiana longiflora Nicotiana obtusifolia Nicotiana paniculata Nicotiana plumbagifolia Nicotiana quadrivalvis Nicotiana repanda Nicotiana rustica Nicotianasuaveolens Nicotiana sylvestris Nicotiana tabacum Nicotiana tomentosa Ref: ITIS 30562 as of August 26, 2005... Binomial name Areca catechu Linnaeus Areca nut, or pinang, more commonly known as betel nut, is the seed of the betel palm or Areca catechu, a species of palm tree which grows throughout the Pacific, Asia, and parts of east Africa. ...

"Paan" is sometimes mistakenly translated as "Betel nut", the seed of the tropical palm Areca catechu. Rather, supari is the term for betel nut in many Indic languages. The International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) regards betel nut to be a known human carcinogen. Binomial name Areca catechu L. Areca catechu, known commonly as Betel palm or Betel nut tree is a species of palm which grows in much of the tropical Pacific, Asia, and parts of east Africa. ...

Paan is an important part of North Indian culture and its chewing is part of a social act. However in urban areas, chewing paan is generally associated with the nuisance created by spitting of the paan juice in public places.

Varieties

Paan is available in many different forms and flavours. The most commonly found include:

• Tobacco (tambaku paan): Betel leaf filled with powdered tobacco with spices.
• Betel nut (paan supari or sada paan): Betel leaf filled with a mixture consisting of a coarsely ground or chopped betel nuts and other spices, called paan masala.
• "Sweet" (meetha paan): Betel leaf with no tobacco and betel nuts. The filling is made up primarily of coconut, fruit preserves, and various spices. It also often served with a maraschino cherry.

Species Nicotiana acuminata Nicotiana alata Nicotiana attenuata Nicotiana benthamiana Nicotiana clevelandii Nicotiana excelsior Nicotiana forgetiana Nicotiana glauca Nicotiana glutinosa Nicotiana langsdorffii Nicotiana longiflora Nicotiana obtusifolia Nicotiana paniculata Nicotiana plumbagifolia Nicotiana quadrivalvis Nicotiana repanda Nicotiana rustica Nicotianasuaveolens Nicotiana sylvestris Nicotiana tabacum Nicotiana tomentosa Ref: ITIS 30562 as of August 26, 2005... Binomial name Areca catechu Linnaeus Areca nut, or pinang, more commonly known as betel nut, is the seed of the betel palm or Areca catechu, a species of palm tree which grows throughout the Pacific, Asia, and parts of east Africa. ... Binomial name Cocos nucifera L. The Coconut Palm (Cocos nucifera) is a member of the Family Arecaceae (palm family). ... Various preserved foods Food preservation is the process of treating and handling food in such a way as to stop or greatly slow down spoilage to prevent foodborne illness while maintaining nutritional value,density, texture and flavor. ... A close up of a Maraschino cherry A maraschino cherry is a preserved, sweetened cherry, typically made from light-colored sweet cherries, such as the Royal Ann, Rainier, or Gold varieties. ...

See also

• Betel nut
• Mukhwas